NEW DELHI, January 11. /TASS/. At least 40,000 Russian tourists have cancelled trips to Goa, a popular Indian resort, in this tourist season, mainly because of rising incidents of assault on tourists, a legal adviser at the Russian Consulate in Mumbai told Tass on Sunday.
The diplomat, Vikram Varma, said not the rouble slump, but rather a negative information background around holidays in Goa was the main reason behind a declining interest in that tourist paradise.
“Increasingly frequent reports in Russian media about growing criminal incidents with foreign tourists, including with the participation of Indian taxi drivers, discourage tourists from trips,” he said.
The diplomat said he saw it as a decisive factor making Russian tourists cancel trips and opt for Spain and Portugal as alternatives, as these countries were offering more lucrative prices and a high level of security.
Meanwhile, Goa is getting less popular as a safe and competitive resort paradise not only among Russians but also among other European nations.
According to Goa’s tourism ministry, the number of tourists in the 2014-2015 season has declined by one third, entailing a 35-percent decline in industry’s revenues and a mass crisis in the tourism and hotel business.