HCMC – After the Lanta-Tur Voyage incident that made hundreds of Russians stranded in Binh Thuan, the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism still insists on promoting the image of this coastal destination to Russian tourists.
Director Ngo Minh Chinh of the department said his agency along with tour operators and hotels will participate in Russia’s largest travel exhibition named Moscow International Travel & Tourism Exhibition (MITT) from March 21-24. Binh Thuan also attended such an event last year, but the exhibition this year will be larger in scale.
In addition, the tourism authority will invite many Russian delegations representing news agencies and travel firms to Vietnam to further promote Binh Thuan’s tourism to Russian visitors. The province will also organize sports and tourism events to attract tourists.
“After the Lanta-Tur Voyage incident, Russia is really satisfied with the way Binh Thuan’s tourism authority treated the stranded tourists. We will continue to build the positive image of a destination to this big source market through multiple marketing activities,” said Chinh.
Lanta-Tur Voyage used to bring a large number of Russian tourists to Binh Thuan. Although the Russian tour operator has halted operation, Chinh predicted it would not impact the number of visitors to the province in the coming time.
“The market is growing well. At present, apart from this company, many firms have joined the market, thus the number of Russian tourists will not decline,” he said.
Last year, Russia became the largest visitor-generating market for Binh Thuan with over 100,000 visitors.
Lanta-Viet Travel Company, a joint venture established by Lanta-Tur Voyage and a local partner to serve Russian tourists, has resumed operation and is settling its debts to services suppliers in Binh Thuan. The final tourists of the 309 stranded ones in Binh Thuan left for their country on Wednesday.
Lanta-Viet has reopened its office to deal with the problems related to tourists and its debts to partners. Whether the travel firm will continue to bring Russian tourists to the province is left unknown, Chinh said.
Russia’s Lanta-Tur Voyage has suspended operation for two weeks, causing thousands of its customers to be stranded overseas, including 309 Russians tourists in Vietnam, followed by the sudden close of Lanta-Viet’s office in Binh Thuan. However, Binh Thuan’s government, the Russian Consulate, and the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism have intervened to facilitate the tourists to continue their trips in Vietnam and return home following tour schedules.
