A Russian Orenair plane carrying nearly 190 passengers landed at Khanh Hoa province’s international airport on October 30, starting the winter vacation season in Nha Trang and Phan Thiet for tourists from Russian Far East.

The vacation season will last until April 2012.

Russian tourist in Nha Trang

In the first 10 days, there will be a flight from Russia to Cam Ranh in central Vietnam per day. Later there will be daily arrival flights and return flights for tourists who want to return to Russia.

Orenair will also launch flights for tourists from nine cities in far eastern Russia such as Kharbarovsk, Vladivostoks, Novosibirsk and Kemerovo.

The director of the Khanh Hoa provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Truong Dang Tuyen, said about 70 percent of Russian tourists using this route will choose Nha Trang as their final destination and the rest will go on to Phan Thiet city.

Tuyen said Vietnam travel agencies have set up a number of venues for sight-seeing, relaxation, and discovering Vietnamese culture; however, most of the first Russian tourists say they want to swim, admire the sea, and eat seacooking before exploring other things.

Khanh Hoa province has received approximately 400,000 foreign tourists so far, including nearly 30,000 Russians.