Russian tour operators not seeing reduction in demand for trips to Vietnam - Russian Union of Travel Industry

MOSCOW. Nov 24 (Interfax) - Tour operators are not seeing cancellations or a reduction in the rate of tour bookings to Vietnam despite the natural disasters that have hit the country, the Russian Union of Travel Industry said on Monday.

"We currently don't see a significant influence of bad weather on bookings to Vietnam. According to the hosting partners, the natural disasters mainly passed the resorts by, although it rained heavily in the Nha Trang area, which, however, is typical of this season. The rains have now stopped, only the sea surge remains," Artur Muradyan, general director of the Space Travel company, said.

There are relatively few tourists in the region as they tend to visit other regions in the winter months: Phu Quoc Island on the southwestern coast and the Phan Thiet region located in the southeast, he said. "The weather is now calm, there are no tour cancellations, but there are generally few tourists in Nha Trang at this time," Muradyan aid.

The floods have generally stopped in the southern and central mountainous districts of the country, but the flood water has brought trees and garbage, which affected the state of beaches along the coastline from Nha Trang to Phu Yen and Quy Nhon, Andrei Podkolzin, the head of the PR department at ITM group, said.

"The low-lying areas located at the bottom of the mountains in the west are the most flooded. Tourist facilities are located near the sea, therefore, the damage to hotels and resorts is not very big. Beaches are being cleaned as fast as possible. In Phu Yen and Quy Nhon, the floodsituation is more difficult than in Nha Trang. Nevertheless, our partners say the disasters are unlikely to affect tourists as they live closer to the sea and on high territories," the expert said.

Anara Uralova, general director of One Click Travel, said, citing the hosting company, that the situation in the central part of Nha Trang is stable: accommodation facilities continue accommodating guests. Short-term floods affected some residential neighborhoods on the outskirts, but the tourist center is functioning normally.

"We have done target adjustment on excursion programs: some departures have been temporarily postponed or have been replaced with alternative routes - solely for vacationers' safety and comfort. Tourists who are just preparing for trips are asking follow-up questions, which is natural, given the news from Vietnam. But there is no mass anxiety or cancellations: there are only some requests, which are most often connected to a wish to receive current information," the expert said.

There is a seasonal decline in demand on all destinations now, which is traditional for November, she said.

The central and southern provinces of Vietnam were heavily hit by bad weather in the past few weeks. The country was hit by natural disasters such as typhoons, heavy rains and, consequently, floods and landslides. The death toll from the floods has exceeded 90 people, and dozens of thousands of people have left their residences.

According to earlier reports, Vietnam ranks first and second with many tour operators in the sales of package tours. Many popular hotels are sold out for the New Year holiday. According to the Russian Federal Security Service's Border Guard Service, the tourist flow grew more than sevenfold, from 20,600 people to 153,000, over nine months of 2025.