Tourism in Goa is largely dependent on international travellers. And many of these foreign tourists are from Russia, the UK and Europe. However, after the COVID-19 pandemic hit India in 2020, there was a massive dip in the number of international tourists arriving in Goa. And now, the state is bearing the brunt of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Flights from Russia scheduled to arrive in Goa in October got cancelled due to war-related issues. On the other hand, visa issues are barring tourists from the UK to visit the state.
Goa Bears The Brunt Of Russia-Ukraine War And Visa Restrictions
The tourism sector in Goa is having a challenging time in terms of international tourists. Every year, Goa receives around 80,000 tourists from Russia. As per reports, nearly 9,31,000 foreign tourists visited Goa in 2019. After the pandemic and war, the number dipped to as low as 3 lakhs. This majorly affected the income earned by the state from the international sector. Concerns arose around charter flights booked from Russia to Goa. In October, a few flights from Russia to Goa were cancelled. Also, a visa restriction on British travellers by the Ministry of External Affairs led to a decline in the number of UK tourists.
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The State Is Taking Steps To Revive Tourism
As international borders were shut for a long time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Goa had started leveraging the potential of domestic travellers to revive tourism. But with the flattening of the COVID curve, the state started expecting a rise in the number of foreign travellers. However, the state is anticipating an improvement in the situation from November. Three charter flights will arrive in Goa from Russia on a weekly basis from next month.
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The state is also hoping that the visa issue with UK travellers would be resolved soon. The Ministry of External Affairs had mandated seeking visas from nine English visa processing centres for British travellers.
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