Director General of the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism Nguyen Trung Khanh (Photo: VNA) In his speech at the third ASEAN+ Russia Tourism Ministers’ Meeting held in the framework of the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2024 in Vientiane, Laos on January 24-26, Khanh highlighted that Russia is an important tourism market of ASEAN and Vietnam in particular, with visitors making long trips to the region.
Laying stress on the modest tourism activities between the two sides, Khanh suggested organising cultural-tourism festivals, conferences and cultural exchange programmes besides the existing Russian language training courses.
He recommended Russia increase its presence at large tourism promotion events held by ASEAN members and support them to roll out several online popularisation campaigns through the country’s official media channels.
At the event, participants reaffirmed commitment to endorsing sustainable tourism development in ASEAN and Russia as well as enhancing collaboration in sustainable and comprehensive growth, ensuring that tourism will benefit people from all walks of life.
With a view to increasing the number of tourist arrivals to accelerate tourism recovery, the meeting adopted a proposal on a project to expand business relations between Russia and ASEAN travel firms through Russian-language training and experience exchange to improve human resources quality.
Participants also supported a proposed project to popularise the off-the-beaten-path destinations in ASEAN and Russia. The project will be coordinated by Brunei.
Despite formidable challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Southeast Asia remained a favoured destination for Russian tourists. During January – September of 2023, ASEAN member countries welcomed 664,000 Russian visitors, while around 23,000 holiday makers from Southeast Asia made their trips to Russia./.
VNA
