Vietnam's Beauty Scenes Lure Russian Visitors

Vietnam's Beauty Scenes Lure Russian Visitors

NTV, a large Russian television broadcasting firm, has sent its staff to make a film on Vietnam's landscapes which is expected to be screened in "Their Customs and Lifestyle" show in early 2005 - a program specialising in popularizing new destinations around the world, says an official of the Hanoi-based Focus Travel Company.

Russians represent up to 50 per cent of Focus Travel's international clients. Dang Bao Hieu, the company's director, says the reporters will make a journey from Hanoi to Ha Long-Hue, Da Nang, Hoi An, Nha Trang, Phan Thiet, Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta.

As assessed by some international travel companies in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the two biggest cities in Vietnam, 2004 marked the return of the Russian market with a strong increase in the number of Russian travellers and tourist companies entering Vietnam for survey and promotion. Figures from the General Statistical Department show 10,831 Russian travelling to Vietnam in Jan-Nov period, up 40.6 per cent over the same period last year.

• KP