Nguyen Huong Thuy, human resources manager at Anex Vietnam Trading and Tourism Company, one of the operators driving a recovery of the Russian inbound tourism market after a hiatus, said the company has been struggling to find Russian-speaking since mid-2025.
Of its 43 tour guides, only 16 are Russian speakers.
The company expects to receive more than 183,000 visitors from Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States between April and October this year.
It assigns English-speaking guides to some tour groups, but there are reportedly communication barriers.
Pegas Misr Vietnam Travel Company faces a similar challenge. Its president, Hoang Thi Phong Thu, said Russian-speaking guides are paid twice as much as English speakers, often in excess of $1,100 a month, yet their recruitment remains difficult.
