BY DEBAJYOTI CHAKRABORTY
KOLKATA, 21 APRIL 2023:
The 2018 FIFA World Cup has acted as a game changer in the travel and tourism sector and the positive feedback by the soccer crazy Bengalies have pushed the VISA applications to almost double since 2019, says Mr. Alexey M. Idamkin, Consul General of Russia in Kolkata at the Moscow City Roadshow in Taj Bengal Hotel here today.
“ I have been working here for nearly six years. In 2018, many soccer fans from Kolkata went to Russia to witness the World Cup. I personally knew many of them and their positive feedback to the friends, relatives and the community has helped to increase the VISA applications to almost double since 2019. And leisure travellers from here started visiting cities like Moscow, Kazan, St. Petersburg, etc,”he said.
After leisure and holiday travellers, the next are the students and MICE sectors. A large number of Indian students study in Russia.
“ There are many similarities between the two cities, Moscow and the City of Joy, the cultural capital of the country including great architectural heritage, literature dating back to the 18th century, museum, monuments , park, food etc,”he said.
Mr.Alexey M. Idamkin further added that tourism is not only related to economy but also to the culture and humanitarian bondings. He also talked about the long and prospering Indo- Russia bilateral relationships as well.
Russia is one the earliest countries to lift the mask rule and has eased the 6 months tourists visa and hotel reservation rules to further boost tourism.
In India Delhi is the biggest resource market for tourism of Russia followed by Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, he added.
“ Today’s business mission will showcase Russia as a great tourist destination and it is also a great nation, I assure all the travellers that they will fall in love with everything in Russia,” added Mr. Alexey M. Idamkin.
Olga Makarova, advisor, International Cooperation Divisionof Department of Moscow City Tourism Committee said that India is a very important resource market for tourism.
“ There are around 60 plus stop over flights, 16 tourist information centres in Moscow. 42 numbers of five star hotels and 169 numbers of four star hotels. For Indian tourists, Indian food restaurants and catering facilities are widely available. We welcome tourists with Moscow + tour packages with cities like Moscow+ St. Persburg, Moscow+ Kazan etc,” she added.
There are also 250 plus universities and 700 plus schools in Russia which impart education in various fields and subjects.
Lot of events can now take place in the empty stadiums nowadays, which have been built for the FIFA World Cup 2018. International Technical Sports Centre, which is 15 minutes away from City Centre,theatre, opera at botanical garden, shopping malls, handicrafts, planetarium and space along with MICE and events can also be explored , Olga Makarova said.
“ Entry points of tourism are the airports and we have three airports in and around Moscow. Our own President also flies from the same runways so we can assure you that they are the safest. Customs, immigrants clearances are not so scary and friendly these days,”said Veronika Aktasheva, head of sales, aviation commerce department of Vnukovo Moscow International Airport.
She said that tourist flows have restarted like in 2020 and many happy Indian tourists have come and visited Russia.The 82 year old airport handles 56 flight operations per hour and also hosts a four star hotel, where passengers can relax.
She said that after the roadshow in Mumbai talks will take place with budget airlines Indigo for direct flight services. At present there is no direct connectivity with Moscow.
Prashant Chaudhury, CMD of Salvia Travels India Limited said that two more Moscow City road shows will take place after Kolkata today, Mumbai and Ahmedabad. He said that a significant number of travel trade partners and media representatives attended the Moscow City Road show in Kolkata today.
Yulia Syundyukova, head of international tourism industry cooperation department of Moscow City Tourism Committee, Reza Maleki, Director of Etours Russia, Julia Akhundova, senior manager of Etours Russia, Urmi Gala Bhavsar, director sales and marketing Volshebniy Holidays, DMC Russia, Shailesh Sharma, partner of Headed Goose, Russian DMC, Malinovskaya Olga, executive director of Mos Tour, Sergey Nazarov, CEO and Md, TS Tours and China Travel, Mr. Anil Punjabi, Chairman ( east) Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) , Mr. Manav Soni, Chairman ( East) of Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), Harsh Agarwal, Executive Director of Fairfest Media Limited, Kaustav Das of Dreamscape Holidays, Samir Shome of Travel India etc were present.
After the inaugural speech by the dignitaries and audio visual presentation, a B2B meeting and networking lunch was also organised.
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