According to the Khanh Hoa Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the province welcomed more than 9.2 million visitors in the first five months of the year, an increase of nearly 53 per cent compared with the same period in 2025.
International arrivals exceeded 3.8 million, up almost 66 per cent year on year.
Russian visitors accounted for more than 590,000 arrivals, representing over 15 per cent of all international tourists and reaffirming Russia's position as one of Khanh Hoa's most important tourism markets. The figure for the first five months of 2026 was already close to the total number of Russian visitors recorded throughout 2025, when the province welcomed 667,000 Russian tourists.
Large numbers of Russian tourists arrive in Khanh Hoa on direct flights (Photo: Van Phat).
Tourism officials said the rapid growth of international arrivals, particularly from Russia, has intensified pressure on the industry's workforce, especially the availability of Russian-speaking tour guides.
The department has issued more than 2,400 tour guide licences, including 1,538 international tour guide licences. However, only 83 licensed guides are capable of working in Russian, far below market demand.
Bui Quoc Dai, deputy executive director of Anex, one of the leading companies serving Russian tourists in Khanh Hoa, said the sharp increase in visitor numbers had left many travel firms facing a severe shortage of qualified guides.
According to Dai, companies are willing to offer monthly salaries of more than USD 1,000 to experienced Russian-speaking guides, yet recruitment remains difficult.
"We hire every licensed Russian-speaking guide we can find," Dai said.
Explaining the shortage, Dai noted that geopolitical tensions and international conflicts over the past four to five years had discouraged many students from pursuing Russian-language studies due to uncertainty about future employment opportunities.
He added that most Russian-speaking guides currently working in the industry belong to an older generation of professionals, while too few younger workers have entered the field to replace them.
Many tourists, including Russians, board boats for island and sea tours in Khanh Hoa (Photo: Trung Thi).
The resulting gap in the workforce has created significant challenges for businesses serving the growing number of Russian visitors.
To address the shortage, the Khanh Hoa Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said it would continue working with educational institutions and travel companies to organise language and professional training courses for tour guides.
Russian tourists take photographs while travelling in Khanh Hoa (Photo: Trung Thi).
Authorities also plan to strengthen links between employers and job seekers, creating more opportunities for workers to gain practical experience in the tourism sector.
In addition, the department will continue urging provincial authorities and the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism to consider appropriate measures to help resolve the shortage of Russian-speaking tour guides in the coming years.
