Khánh Hòa Province is experiencing a shortage of tour guides fluent in Russian.

TPO - The international tourism market in Khanh Hoa is facing a strong opportunity for breakthrough, but the locality is grappling with a serious shortage of tour guides fluent in Russian.

Searching desperately for a guide.

This summer, Khanh Hoa province's tourism industry has the opportunity for a spectacular breakthrough with a large-scale charter flight campaign. The strong return of Russian tourists brings huge revenue, but at the same time puts local travel businesses in a dilemma.

According to Tien Phong 's investigation, the key issue currently is the severe shortage of licensed international tour guides fluent in Russian, insufficient to meet the influx of tourists arriving on hundreds of flights each month.

Due to the impact of the previous market freeze (during the COVID-19 pandemic), the majority of veteran Russian-speaking tour guides have switched careers to find new livelihoods and are no longer keen on returning to the profession. Meanwhile, universities and colleges have had very few or no students majoring in the Russian language in recent years, leading to a serious generational gap in human resources.

In the summer of 2026, Khanh Hoa province's tourism sector has the opportunity for a spectacular breakthrough with a large-scale charter flight campaign.

Speaking to a reporter from Tien Phong newspaper, a representative of Anex Vietnam Trading and Tourism Company Limited (Anex Tour Vietnam) said that this is a large-scale campaign connecting a network of 20 cities in Russia and CIS countries (such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Belarus...) to Vietnam.

It is projected that the total number of international visitors for the entire program will reach 205,000, with an average frequency of approximately 241 flights per month. Within this network, Khanh Hoa province continues to affirm its key position, winning the trust of tourists and is expected to welcome around 180,000 visitors (accounting for the largest proportion of the entire program).

Ms. Nguyen Huong Thuy, Head of Administration and Human Resources at Anex Tour Vietnam, stated: “This is clearly a ‘gold mine’ for the local tourism industry to accelerate its recovery and boost revenue. However, the company is facing a major challenge. While a large number of international tourists, mostly Russians, are flocking to Khanh Hoa province, the company is severely lacking tour guides who speak Russian.”

According to Ms. Thuy, the differences in laws between the two countries and the ongoing conflict in Russia have made many tourists hesitant to return home. Meanwhile, although we have young Vietnamese people who are proficient in Russian, the barrier of experience and understanding of the original culture remains a significant gap that is difficult to bridge overnight.

The current challenge is that this group of foreign workers lacks the necessary professional certifications under Vietnamese law. To avoid wasting opportunities and to meet market demands, travel companies urgently need Khanh Hoa province to implement more innovative, flexible, and open policies.

At 4-5 star resorts in Cam Ranh and Nha Trang, staffing pressure is mounting daily. A representative from ABTours Trading and Tourism Company shared: "Every month, tens of thousands of Russian and CIS tourists stay here. These tourists have very high demands; they need tour guides who are not only fluent in the languages ​​but also have a deep understanding of local culture. Currently, we are competing fiercely for tour guides, even accepting double or triple the cost compared to before, or having to 'borrow' temporary staff from northern provinces, but it's still not enough to cope with the increasing number of tourists each day."

Many businesses have reported that, to "fix the problem," they are forced to use personnel who have previously worked or studied in Russia and returned home, or graduates in linguistics who do not yet have official international tour guide licenses due to regulations on professional certification. This poses many risks regarding service quality and violations of laws on travel business.

Expectations are high for government decisions to loosen bureaucratic restrictions.

Given that the summer 2026 charter tourism season is entering its peak period, travel businesses in the province have expressed their urgent desire to receive timely intervention and support from the Provincial People's Committee and relevant departments and agencies to resolve the "bottleneck" in human resources.

Travel companies are facing a severe shortage of tour guides who speak Russian.

Representatives from ABTours Trading and Tourism Company Limited proposed that the Khanh Hoa Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and relevant management units consider and facilitate the organization of "fast-track" or short-term training courses, examinations, and certification programs in tourism for individuals who already possess good Russian language skills (such as students who studied in Russia or those who have returned to Vietnam) so that they can legally practice their profession during this peak season.

Regarding the above issue, Mr. Cung Quynh Anh - Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Khanh Hoa - said: It must be acknowledged that travel agencies bring a huge number of international tourists to Khanh Hoa province (of which, Russian tourists always account for an overwhelming proportion). They not only bring in revenue, but also contribute greatly to positioning the brand of Vietnam's coastal and island tourism on the world map.

“Of course, the rule of law is an unchangeable principle. Requiring foreign tour guides to possess a legally valid international professional certificate is a mandatory condition. To address the root cause of the ‘personnel shortage,’ the most feasible solution right now is to focus all efforts on domestic human resources,” Mr. Cung Quynh Anh emphasized.

Based on proposals from travel agencies, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism is seeking guidance from the People's Committee of Khanh Hoa province to coordinate with businesses to organize short-term, high-quality tourism training courses specifically for Vietnamese people with strong language skills. This will be an important legal leverage to quickly "standardize" the workforce of students, language graduates, or those who have worked in Russia returning to Vietnam, transforming them into officially licensed tour guides.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/khat-huong-dan-vien-thao-tieng-nga-o-khanh-hoa-post1844537.tpo