Vodohod presented its new products to the Asian market

In September, Vodohod Company took part in three international travel exhibitions in China and Vietnam. The map of Russia's rivers and the number of cruise routes made a strong impression on Asian partners. In Chi Minh City, Shanghai and Guangzhou more than 65 thousand visitors from 50 countries had an opportunity to get acquainted with river cruises on the famous Volga river and expedition tours on the Siberian Yenisey or preserved Baikal lake.

From September 7 to 9, 2023 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Vodohod presented cruise vacation opportunities in Russia at the largest travel and tourism exhibition ITE Ho Chi Minh City 2023 (ITE HCMC). Not only Vietnamese companies and tourists attended the exhibition. At its booth, Vodohod introduced Russian cruise product to tour operators and travel agencies from Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Korea, India, Qatar, Kuwait and Australia.

All guests of the exhibition showed sincere joy when they heard the news about the launch of a single electronic visa, which from August 1, 2023 allows citizens of 55 countries, including Vietnam, in a simplified mode to obtain permission to enter Russia for tourism purposes, with a guest or business visit.

Now there is only one direct flight between Russia and Vietnam on the Irkutsk-Hanoi route. IrAero airline performs flights 2-3 times a week. Therefore, winter and summer expedition tours around Baikal on the hovercraft Biryusa aroused great interest. A winter adventure on the ice of Lake Baikal is a real exotic for the Vietnamese.

In China, Vodohod participated in two exhibitions: ITB-China, International Tourism Exhibition in Shanghai (September 12-14, 2023) and CITIE 2023, International Tourism and Hospitality Industry Exhibition in Guangzhou (September 15-17, 2023).

The cruise between the two main Russian cities Moscow and St. Petersburg is still the most popular itinerary among Chinese tourist business. Baikal remains another trendy attraction point in Russia for Chinese tourists. Chinese residents are also actively interested in cruises and trips to the Far East and the Russian North. By the way, Vodohod offers cruises or expedition tours of different duration in all these regions.

The new cruise liner Karelia, which from 2025 will start sailing to different regions of Russia, aroused great interest. The Chinese partners paid special attention to the first two-week cruise, which is planned in 2025 on this brand new ship. It will be a 5* cruise to the White Sea with calls to Arkhangelsk, Solovetsky archipelago and Kandalaksha. It was evaluated by partners as a promising tour product in the Chinese outbound tourism market.

In addition, China has joined the list of states covered by e-visa and is currently the leader in terms of their number. Over a month and a half, electronic visas for trips to Russia were issued to more than 15,000 travelers from this country. According to statistics, the structure of tourist traffic from China has changed considerably: the number of wealthier tourists has increased, and there are more young people. This year, guests from China, Thailand, South Korea, and Japan vacationed on Vodohod cruises. There are group requests from China and Thailand for the season 2024.