PANJIM: An estimated 3,500 Russians will descend on Goa's shores every ten days this tourism season. Incidentally, the first charter flight to Goa on Thursday morning, bringing in tourists for season 2010-2011, also arrived from Russia.
While the tourism market in western Europe is yet to recover from the recession, Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) spokesperson Ralf de Sousa says the decrease has been balanced by an increase of tourists arrivals from eastern Europe.
"The numbers from Russia are steadily increasing. In fact, one operator alone - Pegas - is scheduled to bring in 2,000 Russians every ten days for this season," he said.
While the figure speaks about one tour operator alone, former TTAG vice president Ernest Dias informs that Goa does business with four major tour operators and several smaller tour operators from Russia. "This means the total number of Russian arrivals can be estimated at around 3,500 every ten days," Dias said.
The Russian affair with Goa started as a trickle at the turn of the century, but the freezing climate in winter has resulted in the former communist country turning out to be the fastest growing market for sunny Goa - almost 5,000 km away.
From a rather humble statistic in 2001 with just 939 tourists arriving by 11 flights, the curve has shot sharply upwards.
Tourism director Swapnil Naik attributes the growing Russian arrivals to the harsh winter and sustained tourism promotions undertaken by the Goa government and the tourism industry.
"We're expecting 11 charter flights a week, and still more will be added to that number. The flights arrive with an average 225-300 passengers. We participate at both international tourism fairs held annually in the months of March and September at Moscow. Besides sustained marketing, it is also the assurance of safety that has resulted in people coming here. We interact a lot with tour operators and travel agents, and they gain more confidence when they see that the government is involved," Naik explained.
TTAG spokesperson de Sousa says around 266 flights have already been confirmed from Russia for this season. "This will increase by another 25 flights as we are awaiting the confirmation," he said, pointing out that Goa received 259 Russian charters last season.
The tourism department is now scanning the Russian map with interest as more unknown regions are throwing up holiday-makers to Goa.
"They are arriving from all over the place. Initially, we used to get tourists from Moscow and St Petersburg. Now, I see tourists coming in from places in south Russia too," the tourism director says.
Former TTAG vice president Dias informed that two new regions have been tapped: "Krasnodar and Orenburg are the new markets. These regions are besides Ufa, Samara, Ekaterinaburg, Perm, Novosibirsk and Moscow," he said.Visa formalities will be easier for Russians this year who will have to wait for not more than four days even during peak tourism season, state tourism officials said. (TOI)
We should ask our Dubaikar Goans about the moral degredation the Russians have done it in Dubai. Now the Russians are going to ply their flesh and drug trade in Goa.
ReplyDeleteDoes Goa need sex tourism? What is the stand of the church and our Goans on this. We should stop the Russians from coming to Goa. They will not only pollute the entire Goa, but give HIV to our Goan youths too.
Their going rate is 30,000 rupees per night in Goa.
Russian tourists are a menace all over the world, I have seen their colonies in Spain and parts of Portugal, they are now shifting their trade of drug dealing and flesh trade as far as Africa. The locals there have no say in the matter or else lose their lives. They are rude and have no manners just like the Indian Tourists coming to Goa. Their women are good at pick pocketing too. Many European tourists departing Dabolim have had their wallets missing. Their behaviour in the departure lounge is disgusting. Their presence in Goa will drive decent tourists away. Beware and keep them at bay
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