Decoding the strong growth of Russian tourists in Vietnam

Factors that create “impressive” numbers

Recognized as one of the most beautiful bays in the world with a peaceful city on the coast, Nha Trang is the center of Khanh Hoa - the land known as "the land of agarwood and the sea of ​​bird's nests". If many years ago, tourism in Khanh Hoa in the last months of the year was considered the low season, in recent years, this concept seems to no longer exist. All year round, this place is bustling with international visitors. It can be said that the market share of international tourists, including Russian tourists, has turned this place into a year-round destination.

Russian tourists are the leading source of foreign tourists to Vietnam. Photo: PV

Russian tourists used to arrive at Tan Son Nhat and travel 4 hours to Mui Ne, but since 2013, Russian tourists have flown directly to Cam Ranh. In 2017 alone, there were more than 500,000 Russian tourists to Vietnam, nearly double the number of 5 years ago.

In absolute terms, this is true, but in reality, Russian tourists stay for a long time, on average 12-15 nights/trip, so each Russian tourist stays 3-4 times longer than tourists from other Asian countries. Therefore, each Russian tourist coming to Vietnam brings in 3-4 times more revenue for the tourism industry than the average spending of other tourists.

Surprisingly, the "mysterious factor" behind the strong growth of this source of visitors is Crystal Bay Group, behind which is businessman Nguyen Duc Chi, a rather quiet person but full of passion for the development of Vietnam's tourism industry.

In 2017, the Group brought more than 300,000 Russian tourists out of a total of more than 500,000 Russian tourists to Nha Trang and this number is expected to increase to 360,000 this year.

“The Russian tourist market is very potential with about 12 million people traveling abroad each year. So far, only about 500,000 people have come to Vietnam, so we can completely boost this flow of tourists if Vietnam's accommodation infrastructure can meet the demand,” said Mr. Nguyen Truong Son - Sales Director of Crystal Bay Group.

Cristal Bay's Cam Ranh Riviera resort. Photo: PV

Decoding the “Crystal Bay” phenomenon

A familiar image at Cam Ranh airport now is the continuous landing and landing of charter flights, the name of the tour company - a member company of Crystal Bay Group - is not painted on the fuselage. Currently, there are 18 chartered planes carrying Russian tourists of this Group on direct international flights from Russia to Cam Ranh.

In 2017 alone, there were 1,300 such flights taking off and landing at Cam Ranh airport.

In 2017 alone, Crystal Bay’s tourists used 3 million rooms/nights in Nha Trang and Phan Thiet. Hundreds of tourist buses busily transported passengers on the routes Nha Trang - Ninh Thuan - Phan Thiet - Da Lat...

Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that the flow of guests from Crystal Bay contributed to increasing Nha Trang's room occupancy rate to more than 75% for 3-5* hotels, an unbelievable number for the tourism industry when the average room occupancy rate in this industry is about 50-60%.

Choosing a different path for itself in the tourism sector, Crystal Bay Group is creating a closed ecosystem, from transporting passengers by road, water, air, accommodation services, resorts, entertainment, sightseeing, experiences...

With a system of 30 subsidiaries, Crystal Bay focuses on developing two main areas in the tourism industry including: services (tour company system, hotel management and exploitation company, yacht management and exploitation company...) and tourism development investment (multi-functional tourism projects in Nha Trang, Ninh Thuan, Quang Ninh; shipbuilding company, park investment and exploitation company, other trade and service companies...)

Over the years, Crystal Bay Group has pioneered in providing new tourism services, pursuing new trends in the world tourism industry, such as becoming an investor and manager of Ana Marina Park to organize sports and sea tourism activities, in addition to investing in developing many products in the tourism ecosystem in Ninh Thuan, Quang Ninh and other localities in the near future.

Not only Nha Trang, in the near future, Crystal Bay's foreign visitors will continue to flock to Ninh Thuan, Quang Ninh... following the idea of ​​"One vacation, two heritage areas" built by Crystal Bay.

There will continue to be domestic charter flights to extend international routes to meet the travel needs of this rapidly growing tourist stream. Crystal Bay, with its steady and steady steps that focus on tourists in all development policies, will continue to contribute to the growth of the local tourism industry, making Vietnam a tourism center of Asia.