With the pandemic situation deemed under control, the central province plans to welcome fully vaccinated foreign tourists, including Russians, later this year, Nguyen Thi Le Thanh, deputy director of the provincial tourism department, said at a meeting with leaders of Saint Petersburg City.

The province wants to launch a Cam Ranh-Saint Petersburg direct route to facilitate travel and attract more Russian tourists, the Voice of Vietnam newspaper quoted Thanh as saying.

Vyacheslav Kalganov, vice chairman of the Committee for External Relations of Saint Petersburg, said Russian authorities are interested in resuming tourism between the two countries.

He said the city leaders would work closely with relevant agencies in considering a direct flight between Cam Ranh and St. Petersburg.

Before the pandemic, four to six charter flights from over 20 Russian cities landed in Cam Ranh Airport in Khanh Hoa a day.

Russia is one of the biggest feeder markets for Khanh Hoa tourism. More than 460,000 Russian tourists visited the province in 2019.

Khanh Hoa, home to tourist hotspots Nha Trang and Cam Ranh besides other attractions, has basically brought the pandemic under control. It plans to reopen intra-provincial tourism starting mid-October and welcome fully-vaccinated foreign tourists under a trial vaccine passport program from November.

The province has recorded over 7,800 cases in the ongoing fourth Covid-19 wave that has infected over 786,000 people in Vietnam since late April.

Vietnam closed its borders and canceled all international flights in March last year. Only Vietnamese repatriates, foreign experts, diplomats, investors, and highly-skilled workers have been allowed since with stringent quarantine requirements.