Businesses desperately look for personnel
From mid-2025 to now, the Russian tourist market has returned to Khanh Hoa with strong growth.
In that context, the Russian language human resource problem is considered one of the important factors determining the quality of services and the ability to retain international tourists of Khanh Hoa tourism in the coming time.
Representatives of Anex Vietnam Trading and Tourism Co., Ltd. (Anex Vietnam) said that from April to October 2026, the enterprise plans to exploit the tourist market from the Russian Federation, Belarus and CIS countries to tourist destinations in Vietnam such as Nha Trang, Phan Thiet, Phan Rang and Da Nang.
It is expected that the total number of passengers in the summer of 2026 will reach about 251,430 arrivals. Businesses operate from 20 cities with a maximum frequency of about 279 flights/month.
Ms. Nguyen Huong Thuy - Human Resources Manager of Anex Vietnam - said that currently the company only has about 40 tour guides with international degrees.
Among them, there are only 12 Russian-speaking tour guides, the rest are English-speaking tour guides.
According to a representative of this business, the shortage of Russian-speaking tour guides makes it difficult for travel companies to organize and coordinate tourist groups as well as ensure service quality in the context of the continuous increase in international visitors.
Not only Anex Vietnam, many businesses exploiting Russian tourists are also falling into a similar situation.
Ms. Hoang Thi Phong Thu - Chairwoman of Pegas Misr Vietnam Travel Co., Ltd. - said that the story of lacking Russian-speaking tour guides is not a new problem, but so far there has been no effective solution in Khanh Hoa in particular and the whole country in general.
According to Ms. Thu, the biggest reason is that Russian is not as common as English, so the number of people studying at formal training institutions in Vietnam is quite small.
Businesses have come to Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and Da Nang for many years to find personnel to work as Russian-speaking tour guides, but the supply is not large, forcing businesses to fend for themselves," Ms. Thu said.
Long-term solutions are needed for human resources
Faced with the shortage of human resources, many travel businesses believe that Khanh Hoa needs to have flexible and long-term solutions to meet the development needs of the Russian tourist market.
Ms. Hoang Thi Phong Thu said that if Khanh Hoa continues to identify the Russian tourist market as a key source of tourists, the locality needs to have a more flexible mechanism for Russian-speaking tour guides.
According to Ms. Thu, in the long term, Khanh Hoa may consider the option of opening a Russian language training department at intermediate, college or university schools to proactively mobilize human resources to serve the tourism industry.
Meanwhile, representatives of Anex Vietnam proposed that the Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee consider directing relevant agencies to support and guide in supplementing and using personnel sources suitable to the specific characteristics of the Russian tourist market, especially activities to support language, coordinate information and improve service quality.
In May 2026, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Khanh Hoa Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Center are coordinating to research and resolve a number of contents related to attracting personnel who are Russian-speaking tour guides.
Chairman of Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Viet Hung also assigned relevant units to support resolving business recommendations and coordinate implementation in accordance with regulations.
Nha Trang University considers reopening Russian language classes
Nha Trang University many years ago was a place to train students to learn Russian. However, over time, Russian language courses have gradually decreased and currently, the school no longer opens Russian language classes.
According to Mr. Nam, the current difficulty is that Russian is no longer as common as English. In addition, the team of Russian lecturers who used to work at the school have also retired a long time ago.
Faced with the need to recruit Russian language tour guides from tourism businesses in Khanh Hoa, the school will study and consider reopening Russian language training classes in the near future.
