In an interview with the Herald, Pamela Mascarenhas, deputy director, Department of Tourism talks about the Russian tourists and their relevance to the tourism sector in Goa.
Herald: What is the percentage of Russian tourists staying in major hotels as compared to total tourists?
PAMELA MASCARENHAS: The percentage of rooms taken by the Russians is almost to the tune of 6% compared to overall room figures and almost 32% of the total rooms booked by foreign nationals. This is due to fact that there are 1.62 lakh Russian nationals who visited Goa out of the total tourist arrival of 31.21 lakh in 2013.
Tourist arrivals for 2013:
Foreign 492322
Domestic 3121473
Herald: What is the duration of their stay in Goa?
PM: The average stay for a Russian national is 8-10 days and may differ/vary depending on the charter operators and the tour packages sold to them by the concern operators.
Herald: What are the number of Russian tourist visiting the state since 2007?
PM: 2007 36,927
2008 48,549
2009 49,251
2010 57,623
2011 1,33,780
2012 1,40,100
2013 1,62,746
Herald: What is the average spend of Russian tourist in the state?
PM: We do not have information on this!
Herald: What are the number of hotels that benefit from the presence of Russians in the state?
PM: Russians form a major chunk of our tourist arrivals. All 5 – stars, boutique hotels and hotels in the coastal belt benefit from the presence of Russians
Herald: What are the number of charter flights that have come into the state from Russia since 2007?
PM: Russian charters first started coming to Goa since 2005-06. However, due the combined efforts of the government and various tour/charter operators the number has seen a significant rise. The government undertook several marketing and promotional campaign in this market which has lead to a spurt in the arrival of tourists from Russia and CIS countries as can be seen from the following figures showing flight arrivals:
2007-2008 157
2008-2009 179
2009-2010 259
2010-2011 443
2011-2012 526
2012-2013 755
Oct 2013-May 2014 895
Herald: What are the number of tourists expected this year?
PM: We expect that the number of tourists arrival will register a growth of 10 to 12 % thereby crossing 3.5 m arrivals, however this number could go up significantly on account of the forthcoming Exposition of the holy relics of St Francis Xavier. We are watching the trends closely and are expecting a big jump in tourist arrivals who will be coming from all parts of the world as pilgrims to be part of the Decennial Exposition.
Herald: What are the attempts made to promote the state in that country?
PM: The government undertook several marketing and promotional campaign in this market by participating in 2 important exhibitions like OTDYKH Russia in September, MITT in Moscow, organizing road shows in St Petersburg, etc and release of TV campaigns. This has lead to a spurt in the arrival of tourists from Russia and CIS countries as can be seen from the mentioned charter arrival figures.
Herald: What are the number of tourists expected this year?
PM: In best case scenario, we may receive over 5 million tourists this year due to the Deccenial Exposition of St Francis Xavier.
