“Demand for beach destinations in India has grown by 40-50%, according to various estimates, compared to 2016. This popularity is driven by a general increase in interest in the country, the observed recovery of the outbound tourism market, and the adequate price-quality ratio of holidays in India against the backdrop of simplified visa regime," the statement said.
Russians most often travel to Goa (83.91% of overall search queries according to online booking systems) and Kerala (5.11% of overall search queries). While tourists travel to Goa almost exclusively for the beach, winter holidays in Kerala are chosen for medical and health purposes.
Young people are the most likely to vacation at Indian resorts. According to Anex Tour, the most popular meal plan in Goa remains BB (breakfast only). However, Biblio Globus has noted an increase in sales of all-inclusive packages. During the winter season, the most popular vacation length in Goa is 10 nights. In terms of hotel star ratings, demand is almost equally distributed between 4-star, 3-star, and 5-star hotels.
According to the service "Sletat.ru," the cost of tours to India has remained unchanged from last year. The average price of a tour to Goa during the high season is 85,000 rubles (with departure from Moscow, for two, 4*, 10 nights). A New Year's holiday tour with similar terms will cost 146,000 rubles. Kerala is slightly more expensive: the average price during the high season is 133,000 rubles (with departure from Moscow, for two, 4*, 9 nights), and during the New Year's holiday season it is 159,000 rubles (with departure from Moscow, for two, 4*, 7 nights).
The tour operator's flight program is based on charter and scheduled flights. Anex Tour plans charter flights from Moscow and 12 regions of the Russian Federation. Additionally, for the first time, the tour operator will offer a holiday to Kerala with scheduled departures.
This winter, tour operator Pegas Touristik is offering flights exclusively to Goa. Nordwind Airlines charters, by agreement with the tour operator, will depart from Rostov-on-Don, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Kemerovo, Perm, Ufa, Moscow, Krasnoyarsk, Chelyabinsk, and Kazan.
The Biblio Globus tour operator's flight program will be operated by Rossiya Airlines. Departures from Moscow are scheduled four times a week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays on Boeing 747s with business class seats. As tour operator representatives told ATOR, this is the only scheduled flight from Dabolim Airport, making it possible to combine tours with departures from various Indian cities.
The resort of Goa welcomes an average of 3 million tourists annually. Russians lead the list of foreign tourists to India.
Source: tourism.interfax.ru