Vietnamese willing to pay to enjoy World Cup in Russia Vietnamese tourists are willing to pay as much as US$2,300 for a match at 2018 FIFA World Cup, excluding travel expenses to Russia   Volunteers react near the stadium Mordovia Arena, which will host matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Saransk. Photo: REUTERS Many Vietnamese football aficionados are ready to travel to Russia this summer to explore the country’s attractions and watch the 2018 FIFA World Cup, local travel agencies said. More than 500 local customers have booked packages with watching World Cup matches, with stadium tickets as high as US$2,300 apiece, included in the itinerary, according to leading tourism company Vietravel. Vietravel, as one of the official ticket retailers of the quadrennial international football tournament, said tickets for the July 15 final game had been sold out as of last weekend. The company also ran out of tickets at lower prices, below $1,000. “There are only tickets for some group-stage matches and the semi-finals and quarter-finals left, starting from $2,300 a ticket,” a company representative said. This is only the price to enter the stadium to watch the World Cup, not the total price for a package from Vietnam to Russia, according to tour organizers. Vietnam’s GDP per capita was $2,185 in 2016, according to World Bank data. Tran Thi Bao Thu, director of marketing communications of tour operator Fiditour, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that the number of tourists booking tours to Russia during the World Cup is some 20 percent higher than normal figure. “Fiditour had stopped receiving booking for this package since late April to be able to complete visa procedures and services registration during this peak time,” Thu said. Travel combined with watching football The 2018 World Cup travel packages will allow customers to spend from seven to 12 days in Russia, and visit the football tournament’s host venues, including Saint Petersburg, Moscow and Uglich town in Yaroslavl Province. As the World Cup takes place in summer, tourists will also have chance to experience White Nights Festivals, a kind of all-night arts fest held in many cities in areas of high latitude during this time of the year. The original festival, White Nights of St. Petersburg, is famous for spectacular fireworks and Scarlet Sails, a massive water show celebrating the end of school year. However, it is harder for people in southern Vietnam face to enjoy such traveling and football watching packages, due to the lack of nonstop services from Ho Chi Minh City to Russia, according to Tran Van Long, director of Viet Media Travel Company. “The tour operators had to mostly depend on the Russian partners, so it is hard to negotiate about the cost and price,” Long explained. As prices for services and accommodation in Russia are forecast to increase by at least 30 percent during the course of the World Cup, Vietnamese travel companies also have to increase their tour prices. Many Vietnamese travel companies had planned to take tourists to Russia to watch the World Cup, but eventually decided to not widely promote their packages due to their high prices. The Russian market has traditionally been a familiar destination for tour operators, with packages launched on a monthly basis. However, for such a special type of package with football watching among the itinerary, travel companies have to watch customer demand before deciding to launch a tour or not. "The tour price to Russia originally does not include the cost of football tickets,” Long said. “But we are ready to assist customers with ticket purchases if they want to watch the Cup.” The 2018 FIFA World Cup will be the 21st FIFA World Cup, contested by the men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It is scheduled to take place in Russia from June 14 June to July 15. The 2014 FIFA World Cup saw Germany crowned the champion in Brazil. Tuoi Tre News