Vietnam - Russia strengthen tourism cooperation, facilitating tourists to travel between the two countries

The meeting was held online with the participation of representatives of tourism management agencies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs , tourism and aviation businesses of Vietnam and Russia.

Việt - Nga tăng cường hợp tác du lịch, tạo thuận lợi cho du khách qua lại hai nước - Ảnh 1. — Deputy Director Ha Van Sieu chaired the meeting. Photo: TITC

Opening the meeting, Deputy Director Ha Van Sieu said that since the first online meeting of the Working Group in August 2024, tourism cooperation between Vietnam and the Russian Federation has continued to make positive progress. During the State visit of the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam , Comrade To Lam, his wife and a delegation of high-ranking officials to Russia on May 8, the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam and the Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation signed a Memorandum of Understanding on tourism cooperation between Vietnam and the Russian Federation for the period 2025-2030. This is a strong commitment of the two sides to strengthen cooperation in tourism development.

In 2024, Vietnam welcomed 17.6 million international tourists , basically returning to the level before the Covid-19 pandemic. The Russian tourist market is growing rapidly, in just the first 6 months of 2025, the number of Russian visitors to Vietnam reached 260 thousand, surpassing the number of visitors in the whole year of 2024 (232 thousand).

In addition to the Vietnamese Government's visa exemption policy for Russian citizens, many regular commercial flights and charter flights of Vietnamese airlines such as Vietnam Airlines, VietJet Air and Russian airlines such as Aeroflot and Azur Air have been reconnected after a period of interruption, which are key factors creating favorable travel conditions and promoting passenger exchange between the two countries.

"Not only focusing on issuing favorable policies, the two sides also actively support each other in tourism promotion activities. Many programs introducing unique and attractive destinations and tourism products of Vietnam have been held in major cities in the Russian Federation. In the near future, the Russian Cultural Days program will also be held in Vietnam," said Deputy Director Ha Van Sieu.

Việt - Nga tăng cường hợp tác du lịch, tạo thuận lợi cho du khách qua lại hai nước - Ảnh 2. — The meeting was held online with the participation of representatives of tourism management agencies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, tourism and aviation businesses of Vietnam and Russia.

Co-Chair of the Session, Mr. Igor Maksimov, Deputy Director of the Department for Multilateral Economic Cooperation and Special Projects (Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation) informed that tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors of the Russian economy. The Russian Government has implemented a series of measures to support domestic and international tourism to Russia. Currently, there are 58 approved national tourist routes, suitable for both individual and group tourists.

Regarding visa policy, Russian citizens are exempted from visas when staying in Vietnam for no more than 45 days. In contrast, Vietnamese citizens can apply for an e-visa to Russia for a maximum stay of 16 days and Russia is considering officially approving an extension of the e-visa duration to 30 days.

According to data from the Russian Federal Statistics Service, in the first quarter of 2025, Vietnamese citizens made 7,000 trips to Russia; this figure was 26,000 in 2024 and 20,000 in 2023. On the other hand, the number of Russian tourists to Vietnam achieved impressive growth, ranking among the top destinations chosen by Russians.

Việt - Nga tăng cường hợp tác du lịch, tạo thuận lợi cho du khách qua lại hai nước - Ảnh 3. — Delegates attending the Session on the Vietnamese side. Photo: TITC

Attending the meeting, delegates from both sides updated policies and new information on tourism in Vietnam and Russia. At the same time, they proposed solutions to facilitate tourists and promote two-way tourist exchanges between Vietnam and the Russian Federation. Accordingly, delegates proposed to continue to facilitate travel between the two countries, including simplifying visa procedures, considering visa exemption for Vietnamese tourists traveling to Russia in groups; strengthening air connectivity, especially expanding direct flights connecting new tourist destinations between Vietnam and Russia. Strengthening the sharing of information on policies, investment opportunities, and experiences in tourism development to support businesses from both sides, especially updating changing trends in tourism demand to build products that better suit tourists' tastes.

The two sides need to continue researching and developing tourism products that suit tourists' needs, organize programs to introduce health care tourism, culinary tourism, and improve infrastructure and facilities to serve tourists. Vietnam suggests that Russia consider organizing training courses to improve the capacity of Russian-speaking tour guides and tour operators, bringing the best experiences to encourage tourists to return many times.

"The Vietnam National Tourism Administration is committed to coordinating and supporting Russian tourism in implementing tourism promotion programs in the two countries, thereby contributing to increasing the presence and enhancing the image of Vietnamese and Russian destinations to tourists from both sides as well as international friends," Deputy Director Ha Van Sieu emphasized.