An airport employee checks the temperature of visitors at Cam Ranh International Airport in Khánh Hòa Province. — VNA/VNS Photo Nguyễn Dũng

HÀ NỘI — The Khánh Hòa Department of Tourism has proposed a direct air route connecting the province with the Russian city of Saint Petersburg. 

This suggestion was made during a webinar to promote cooperation between Khánh Hòa Province and Saint Petersburg on Wednesday.

Khánh Hòa Province drew a large number of Russian tourists before the pandemic. In 2019, Russian tourists visiting the locality hit a record of more than 460,000, up 4.5 per cent over 2018 and accounting for 71 per cent of the total Russian visitors to Việt Nam.

In the first quarter of 2020, before Việt Nam stopped receiving foreign tourists, visitors from Russia reached 245,000, an increase of 14 per cent over 2019’s same period. 

Nguyễn Thị Lê Thanh, deputy director of Khánh Hòa Tourism Department said, “The pandemic has been gradually controlled. The Department of Tourism will submit a plan to welcome international visitors with a "vaccine passport" in November to the provincial People's Committee for submission to the Prime Minister.” 

“Thus, the province’s tourism industry has proposed two-way direct flights from Saint Petersburg to Khánh Hòa, to facilitate travel and tourism promotion programme.”

In response, Saint Petersburg’s authority said the cooperation between two cities has potential and called for an online meeting in December 2021. Early next year, the Russian city will hold a tourism seminar, with the participation of Vietnamese tourism companies.

According to a representative of Nhật Minh Travel JSC, the province has controlled the pandemic rather well and the tourism industry, including the province's airport, are fully prepared for the new normal conditions. They are waiting for government permission to welcome Russian tourists again, expected in December this year.

If approved, the province will resume transit flights four times a week, from Saint Petersburg to Novosibirsk and from Novosibirsk to Cam Ranh.

Việt Nam is expected to open its doors to foreign tourists from November. Those with a “vaccine passport” will be able to visit the resort island of Phú Quốc in November. After that, Việt Nam will consider expanding this programme to other places such as Khánh Hòa and Đà Nẵng. — VNS