St Petersburg’s Krestovsky Stadium where football matches of EURO 2020 will take place. — Photo https://www.visit-petersburg.ru/

HÀ NỘI — Tourists from Việt Nam will enjoy various priorities offered during trips to Russia next year as the host country of UEFA EURO 2020 wants to boost tourism through football.

The presentation event “Euro as a Gift” was organised on Wednesday in Hà Nội to introduce the main tourist products of Russia and some packages designed for the Vietnamese market.

The programme is one among efforts of the Russian industry to promote tourism from Việt Nam, in the context of the UEFA EURO 2020 and the 70th anniversary of friendship between Việt Nam and Russia, which will also fall next year.

Việt Nam is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. In the coming years, a sharp increase in the number of Vietnamese tourists in Russia is expected. Many of them will come to the European football celebration. That’s the reason why the Federal Agency for Tourism of the Russian Federation organised the event.

During the one-day programme, the travel companies and reprentatives from Russia introduced regional tourist routes and transport accessibility of places of interest and major attractions.

Participants had a chance to find out about cities of the Great Volga Route, the Golden Ring, traditional Russian estates, places related to the astronautics industry, historical routes of Russian emperors and much more.

"EURO 2020 is a kind of trademark of the international level of quality, proof of the high class of the hospitality industry in Russia as a whole,” Sergey Korneev, deputy head of the Federal Agency for Tourism of the Russian Federation (FATRF) said.

“We want to send a message saying ‘come visit us before the championship, come visit us to watch football matches, come to our unique tourist centres and come back to us again after EURO 2020’.”

“We are sure that in addition to matches in St Petersburg, Russia can become a convenient hub for tourists from Asia on their way to “football” Europe.”

“Golf lovers from Việt Nam are offered an opportunity to play this game on a snowy field or on a perfectly smooth and clear ice of Baikal Lake,” Korneev said.

Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Lê Quang Tùng said he’s optimistic about the growth in co-operation between Vietnamese and Russian tourism sectors.

“Last year, the FIFA World Cup helped attract more Vietnamese tourists to Russia, there is no doubt that more and more people will come to Russia for the EURO 2020,” said Tùng.

“I expect that partners in the tourism industry of the two countries will strengthen co-operation to increase the number of Russian tourists to Việt Nam and vice versa.”

“We hope to receive one million tourists from Russia to Việt Nam next year,” he said.

On the occasion, Fan ID, a special pass for spectators, was introduced to Vietnamese tourists with many gifts.

Vietnamese people who buy tickets to football matches of EURO 2020 will be issued the Fan ID for free. Visa is not required for them to enter Russia from May 30 to July 3.

As an Honorary Ambassador of Russian Tourism, the cosmonaut, Hero of Russia Gennady Padalka, who set the world record for the most time spent in space (878 days), participated in the event.

The tourism promotion event was followed by an art performance of ballet soloist of the Mikhailovsky Theatre (St. Petersburg) Alisa Sodaleva and artists of the Việt Nam National Music, Song and Dance Theatre.

The UEFA European Football Championship EURO 2020, which will be held next summer in St Petersburg, will become one of the main topics of the event. Three matches of Group B and one quarter-final match will take place at the St Petersburg Stadium next June and July.

“St Petersburg, a pearl of world culture, architecture and history, is hosting EURO 2020. We are inviting football-art-architecture-lovers from all over the world to our northern capital. The FIFA World Cup experience had proved that Russia is easy and convenient to be visited,” Alexey Sorokin, CEO of the UEFA EURO 2020 Saint Petersburg Local Organising Structure stated in a video sent to the event in Hà Nội. — VNS