VASCO
Tourism activity in the State got a boost after the first Charter flight of the season -- SU-236 aircraft of Russian airline Aeroflot -- touched down at Dabolim early Sunday morning.
Aeroflot SU-236 arrived from Moscow with 240 passengers including crew at around 5.30 am.
Concord Exotic Voyages (I) Pvt Ltd that handled the first Charter flight to Goa made necessary arrangements of representatives for convenience of the tourists with regards to translation and also arranged coaches that would take the first lot to different locations across the State.
Vice president of Concord Exotic Voyages Sheik Ismail said that all stakeholders were excited to have a Charter coming in so early into the tourist season and that the international tourists would be staying in hotels of all categories in North and South Goa.
"We are a forty-year-old establishment and one of the most reputed and leading destination management company in Indian tourism. We are also one of the leading agencies to handle the entire Russian Charter tourists in Goa and this is why we have managed to get tourists from Russia despite the ongoing war in their country”, Ismail said.
Speaking about the tourists, Ismail said, “we have got our first flight from Biblio Globus, which is a very big tourism player in Russia. In days to come we will be handling international tourists through 6 to 8 Charter flights that will be arriving from Russia every week”.
Ismail also said efforts are on to bring in tourists from Kazakhstan from November. “We are focusing on scouting for tourists from Kazakhstan and also from Uzbekistan which will ensure that Goa has a great tourist season this year”, he said.
Ismail also revealed that he had personally travelled to Moscow and stayed there for over ten days to meet many of their officials and companies to ensure that we get Russian tourists to Goa this season.
“The government is already promoting Goa there and considering the war, they also have limited destinations for travel… we made the best use of this opportunity because we cannot survive in Goa without Charter flights”, Ismail added.
He was also of the opinion that companies getting Charters to Goa can do better if the government provides some financial assistance or support and which could subsequently benefit Goa. “This is a very good start and we look forward for a very good tourist season ahead", he said.
According to the company, six flights per week are scheduled from Russia.
With foreign tourists on the decline, the Charter operations from Russia come as a major relief for hoteliers and tourism stakeholders here in Goa.
