Goa received 273 more charter flights this tourism season

PANAJI: For the current tourist season which is drawing to a close, Goa received 273 charter flights more than the previous season, totalling nearly 900 flights with more than 50 % of the total charter tourists coming from Eastern Europe - Khazakistan and Russia. Announcing the statistics of charter tourism for the current season, the government on Friday said that a total of 899 charter flights carrying 1,71,178 travellers from 12 international destinations have landed into Goa since the start of the tourist season in October 2010.

        This is a marked rise from the 626 charter flights that flew into Goa in the previous tourist season with 1,37,790 passengers onboard, director of tourism Swapnil Naik said. The season saw charter flights from UK, Russia, Poland, Germany, Norway, Kazakhstan, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, France, Netherlands and Iran fly into Goa. Statistics show that more than 50% of the total number of charter flights arriving into Goa originated from Eastern Europe, mainly Russia and Kazakhstan.

       In all 435 flights arrived from Russia and 20 from Kazakhastan from a total of 899 flights. Ralph de Souza, spokesperson for the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) said, "There is no doubt that Goa's popularity is increasing across the globe. This tourist season, the state has seen a large increase in tourists from countries like Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Russia." Officials, however, said this is not to indicate that English tourists are very few. Goa continues to attract a steady stream of visitors from the UK. Officials said that a total of 261 charter flights carrying 57,848 travellers arrived into Goa from UK. De Souza said travellers arriving from Russia and other Eastern European countries arrive into the state mainly through the charter route. He further said that "Goa has consistently received a high number of British travellers, especially long staying guests.

         However, tourists arriving from the (East European) region are significantly higher than these numbers because many arrive via Mumbai as the connectivity of flights is better." Overall, the arrivals of charter flights were high in December and January which is normally the case. 167 flights came in December 2010 and 187 flights in January 2011. TTAG spokesperson said, "Goa is the only holiday destination in India which has enjoyed the highest number of repeat tourists, especially from UK and parts of Western Europe.

       Foreign tourists arriving into Goa stay for an average period of two weeks including short and long term stays, not less." Tourism officials said that over the last year Goa has embarked on "a 360 degrees targeted campaign, proactively pitching Goa as a holiday destination," to the European countries, Scandinavia, Russia, and the east, including Japan.Commenting on the season, director tourism said, "Each year we have either been on par or are doing better than the previous years. We are pleased that we will be closing the tourist season on a healthy note and are extremely optimistic about the coming tourist season as well."