Major online newspapers in Russia have quoted the Russian News Agency RIA-Novosti as saying Vietnam is becoming a tourist attraction to Russian visitors.

They reported that a record number of more than 25,000 Russian visitors travelled to Vietnam in the first six months of 2007, a year-on-year increase of 65 percent. Vietnam received nearly 29,000 Russian visitors in 2006.

Recently, the Vietnam Administration of Tourism and travel agencies have made fact-finding visits and attended tourism fairs in Moscow to promote the Vietnamese image, its land and people. They have devised tours attractive to Russian visitors.