Goa’s mornings are notably magical. The first rays of the sun touching the earth cast a spell that holds fast the attention of any mortal, in this case, Goa’s first charter arrival passengers.
After months of lull in international tourism, Goa has finally opened its doors to the first charter flight from Yekaterinburg, which landed in Goa on October 2 morning at around 8 am, and the second charter from Moscow, at the Manohar International Airport at Mopa.
With the arrival of around 400 Russian tourists, the gloom cast upon the tourism state has been lifted. Things appear much more promising for the tourism industry now that Goa will finally see more charter tourists this year.
Among the first to exit was Valdamir Arjinken, who flew in the first charter to land in Goa. He said he finally feels awesome and can’t wait to go to his hotel, where he will be staying for over a month.
“This is my fourth time in Goa, and I love to attend yoga here. I’ll be staying around Mandrem and Arambol where you’ll find a lot of Russians. Goa has one of the most amazing yoga instructors, so I’m planning to get my hands on some advanced courses,” said Valdamir, who then began searching for the cab driver he had booked from Russia.
There is no better welcome than some entertaining traditional mandos and Konkani songs. The Tourism Department had organised a Konkani brass band, live band and dancers who performed to some Goan songs like “Konkani Amchi Goenchi Bhas” and “Maria Pitache”.
As the guests began to pour in, some danced to the music while some shared their arrival on social media platforms, as they were welcomed by red roses at the exit gates by the Tourism Department.
“Goa is love,” said Irina Tumen, a senior citizen who has been coming to Goa for the last four years. “I usually go to Kerala first, but this time I came here first. I love to take walks on the beach, enjoying my alone time and even talking to the waves. Goa is serenity, peace and joy,” she said as she took a photo with the brass band crew.
I love to take walks on the beach, enjoying my alone time and even talking to the waves. Goa is serenity, peace and joy. Goa is love.
Irina Tumen, a senior citizen from Russia on her fourth visit
It was the first time for Anton in India, and ever since he had landed, he had fallen in love with all the culture shown to him. “I’ve done a lot of reading about India, and I wanted to come here because many of my friends have been here and have advised me to come here for vacations.”
Goa has over the years welcomed a number of Russians. Therefore, bonding and friendships have been inevitable. A good example of this was a Russian couple with two kids at the airport being greeted by their Goan friend who had come to pick them.
“They have been coming here for many years now, and they always call me. We are good friends,” says the Goan friend who picked them up.
Senior Vice President Sheik Ismail, of Concord Exotic Voyages (I) Pvt Ltd, said, “We are very happy that Goa is receiving such a warm response from Russia. We will be having a charter flight on October 26 from Kazakhstan and on October 27 from Uzbekistan airlines."
With Goa receiving such an amazing response from Russians, the tourism sector will finally see some respite from the lull it was experiencing earlier.