Khanh Hoa-based Anex Vietnam Travel and Trading Company announced on Monday that it will collaborate with Vietjet Air on welcoming tourists from Almaty City, Kazakhstan to the Vietnamese province from October.

According to the plan, there will be two Airbus A330 flights a week between Cam Ranh (around 40km from the touristy city of Nha Trang) and Almaty from October this year to April of next year.

Tourists visiting Khanh Hoa will stay for seven to 28 days at hotels and resorts in Nha Trang and Bai Dai Beach in Cam Lam District, and will participate in activities such as sightseeing and shopping.

“In the past, few Kazakhs traveled to Khanh Hoa Province, primarily via charter flights. Now, our company will concentrate on exploiting this market,” said Bui Quoc Dai, executive vice-president of Anex Vietnam Travel and Trading Company.

“In addition, some visitors from Eastern Europe and Russia transit Kazakhstan en route to Vietnam.

“However, due to the Russia-Ukraine military confrontation, the number of Russian visitors who wish to travel is quite low.

“The inaugural flight will depart Cam Ranh International Airport on October 25 for Almaty International Airport in Kazakhstan, and on October 26 there will be a return trip from Almaty to Khanh Hoa.

“Each trip is anticipated to carry between 180 and 200 passengers."

According to Dai, there are numerous similarities between the Russian and Kazakhstan markets.

Due to the fact that Kazakhs typically take a one-month winter break, tourists from this country have the demand to rest and remain for an extended period of time beginning in October.

This country also communicates in Russian, and Khanh Hoa has tourist facilities and services in place to accommodate Russian tourists, so it is simple to suit their needs.

"However, Vietnam has yet to waive visa requirements for Kazakh visitors, whilst Kazakhstan has visa exemptions for Vietnamese tourists. Therefore, this source of visitors will meet with numerous procedures and difficulties before entering Vietnam," Dai remarked.

“Kazakhstan is a country where around 70 percent of the population is Muslim, we must also have a strategy for gastronomy.

“Also, Vietnam is not yet a traditional or appealing market for Kazakh tourists, so promotion is necessary. In the near future, our company will coordinate to organize familiarization trips for this source of tourists."

Tran Minh Duc, vice-chairman of the Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa Tourism Association, said that tourist facilities must enhance their capacity and notably on-site services, and develop more attractive services such as yacht excursions and travel camping combined with adventure sports like kayaking or zip lines.

According to Nguyen Thi Le Thanh, director of the provincial Department of Tourism, the opening of direct flights from Kazakhstan to bring tourists from the country and certain Eastern European countries to Khanh Hoa will help diversify the international tourism sector.

"In addition to tourists from Kazakhstan and other Eastern European countries, the department will welcome a group of 15 travel firms from Kolkata, India around the middle of November in order to promote Vietnam's image in the Indian market,” Thanh said.

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