The leading winter destinations show a significant increase in sales on the stage of early booking. The growth of the demand in tours to the UAE, Thailand, Vietnam and India is very significant this year.

India is truly a priority tourism source market for Russia. It is one of the countries Rosturizm wants to work very aggressively in and develop as one of strongest tourism source markets.

The minimum prices for holiday tours to India are comparable to the cost of air tickets to the destination. Experts see the reason of the situation in the specifics of India as a tourist destination.

The demand for India remains at the level of last year. The information about a decrease in the cost of a visa did not affect tourist demand in any way.

The arrival of the first charter flight from Russia has opened the beginning of the tourism season in India’s Goa. The chartered flight is being facilitated by Russia-based charter airline Royal Flight in association with Gurugram-based Caper Travel.

Royal Flight air company will open the new destination from the international airport of Krasnodar for winter season. The tourists are planning to visit Indian state Goa from Krasnodar this winter directly. The flights will be fulfilled once in 11 days according to schedule since 02.11.2019 till 24.03.2020 on Boeing 757-200 with capacity of 239 passengers on board.

Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam and India are the leaders of the coming winter. For these areas winter sales grew by 1,5 times within early booking program. The early booking of tours for the winter season this year began very early and the interest of tourists in this action is very high

Tourism minister of India Prakhlad Singh Patel has announced that 30-days electronic visa will cost two times cheaper. The authorities plan to correlate the price with the period of travelling to India. Press Trust of India informs that the price for 30 days visa during the high season may be 25$, during the low season in April-June it may be only 10$. Tourists may get one-year visa for 40$ instead of 100$ as now, while five-year visa may cost 80$. But there is no definite date when this decision comes into the reality.

Russia’s third largest air carrier by passenger numbers, Ural Airlines (based in Ekaterinburg), wants to start daily flights between Mumbai and Moscow. The airline recently conducted its inaugural Mumbai — Moscow flight. “India is being the most (fastest) developing country in the world, we are trying to open up the route with an aim of having four weekly flights between Mumbai and Moscow, (later) increasing it to daily flights,” Marianna Galagura, head of its international relations and charter sales department of the air carrier, said. 

A 50% drop in charter arrivals from Russia was witnessed in India’s Goa during the recently concluded holiday season compared to the previous year, the Times of India reports. According to official data, 62,000 less Russian tourists visited Goa’s tourist resorts. 

On Wednesday March 13 at the exhibition MITT 2019 (Moscow) Russian Travel Digest (RTD) met with Mrs. Vinita Rashinkar, the Director of BlueBrick Marketing & Communications. At the exhibition, Vinita Rashinkar represented Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.  

At the heart of a vast and ancient land called India is Madhya Pradesh, a state that has earned the title: "The Heart of Amazing India." It's not just for its geographical location, but more because it's a microcosm that India has to offer - from ancient protected forests that abound with wildlife to the many forts and stately palaces of its ancient kingdoms, cliffs from marble shining in the moonlight to ancient caves and cave paintings, temples and stupas with intricate carvings. Madhya Pradesh is full of history, heritage, religion, Indian cuisine and textiles, culture and natural beauty. 

From March 31 Ural Airlines will start to fly from Moscow Domodedovo to Indian Mumbai. The stated frequency is four times a week.   The price of air tickets starts from 22.4 thousand Rubles (299 Euros) one way and 37.8 thousand Rubles (504 Euros) for a round-trip flight.  Ural Airlines Company noted that the new flights can attract tourists who want to get acquainted with the unique historical sights of the city. Among them are Chakhtrapati-Shivaji station, hanging gardens and Jarawahi slum area. 

India’s tourism minister Joseph Alphons Kannanthanam has said his country is ready to accept a proposal from Moscow for visa-free entry to Russian tourists groups in India. In an interview with TASS news agency, the official said that granting a no visa entry to Russian tourist groups is a good idea but in turn Moscow should do the same for the groups of Indian tourist groups visiting Russia. 

Pegas Touristik, a Russian tour operator which organizes about 300 charter flights every season, has decided to discontinue its charter operations in India’s Goa from January 12, The Times of India reports. Joao Xavier Miranda of Cicerone Air Transport Services, an airline representative firm, said Pegas’ decision is due to the losses it suffered on its Goa account.

The price for tours to Goa is inexpensive - up to 50 thousand Rubles ($ 753) per person. The Indian state of Goa is one of the most accessible beach destinations for the 2018/2019 winter season. According to experts, due to the preservation of the cost of tours at the level of last year, Goa maintains one of the leading positions in sales of the “winter beach”.

“India expects more than 300,000 Russian tourists in 2018,” told Anup Biswas, a representative of the Indian Ministry of Tourism. “Following the results of 2018, we plan to host more than 300 thousand Russian travelers in India. Most of them, of course, prefer Goa, but we intend to expand the geography of the country and give them the opportunity to visit other states - Kerala, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir in the Himalayas,” added Mr. Anup Biswas.

Biblio-Globus tour operator since October launches a flight program to Goa and increases the number of flights to Thailand. "The flight program to Goa starts on October 3, the flights will be carried out by Rossia airline twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays on the boards of Boeing-747-800 with the presence of business class.

Last winter, according to the Indian press, Goa noted a decline of New Year reservations from foreign markets - up to 30%. This season, this trend is not observed in sales of Goa for the New Year. However, tour operators believe that it is too early to give forecasts for the New Year's results to Goa: traditionally, demand for the direction is activated immediately at the beginning of the season - that is, in October.

The continued popularity of Goa in the regions you may see in the flight programs of tour operators, which start in October. This state has remained practically at the level of the previous year. In winter season 2018/19 Coral Travel tour operator, in general, maintains the volume of the flight program to Goa, but reduces the number of regional departure points. If in the last winter season the tour operator announced charter flights to Goa from 11 regions of Russia, this winter only Moscow and 8 regions were declared (the flights from Kemerovo and Krasnoyarsk to Dabolim this year are not planned).

The Indian state of Goa, more than half of the foreign tourist flow to which comes from Russia, is still behind other mass winter destinations by popularity. The prices for the direction for the year increased by 22%, however, the leading tourist players still retain their flight programs at the last year's level.

“In 2017 385.7 thousand Russians visited India, which is 69% more than the same indicator of the last year”, - informed the Association of Russian Tour Operators (ATOR). "In 2016 India was visited by 228.2 thousand tourists from Russia, in 2017 their number was 385.7 thousand, which means an increase of 69%.