Government representatives of the tourist industry in Kerala, Goa, and Uttarakhand recently visited Russia. The goal was to attract more Russian tourists.
Goa and Kerala are two gems on the Indian west coast. Lush, beautiful, hospitable, relatively affluent, and with stunning beaches. Uttarakhand is a spectacular mountainous beauty on the border of Tibet and Nepal.
All were popular destinations for the early hippies who arrived in Anjuna (Goa), Kovalam (Kerala) and Rishikesh (Uttarakhand), one after another. The latter became world famous when the Beatles lived for a time in Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s ashram.
Now the hippies have grown up, their numbers are dwindling, and the ones who are left are known as cheapskates. Russians have been singled out as their successors — they are the new hippies.
The first charter flight with Russian tourists landed in Goa in 2003. Since then, the number has grown explosively, and in 2013-14, 985 of the 1,128 charter flights that landed at Dabolim were Russian flights. More Russians arrived in Goa than any other nationality. And international charter tourists are good tourists: They stay longer than Indian tourists, and they spend more.
There is one problem though: This season looks to be a very bad season. And it may get even worse if the burgeoning new tourist co-operation does not bear fruit. The conflict between Ukraine and Russia, the devaluation of the rouble, and the fact that several Russian charter agencies have gone bust has not helped.
Significantly, fewer Russian tourists than expected arrived in Goa, and there are growing fears that the Russians will soon find a new favourite destination — Thailand, for example, which is a fast-growing destination and also a bit cheaper than Goa.
And perhaps better? Many Russians on Vkontakte — the Russian counterpart to Facebook — share their bad holiday memories from Goa: Greedy taxi drivers, poor service, corrupt policemen, poor infrastructure, waste, cockroaches in the kitchen, and drugs everywhere. The original hippies would certainly have complained about some of this too, although hardly about the latter.
Many Russian tourists experience it as a problem that they do not speak English and therefore find it difficult to communicate. When the Goa Tourism Development Corporation last year invited Russian tour operators on a “get acquainted with” trip to Goa, for example, they did not think to invite an interpreter.
This resulted in the visit basically consisting of a polite exchange of smiles between the Russian and Indian delegations. Now, Goa is setting up Russian information centres with Russian-speaking staff.
Many of the same challenges face Kerala, which also need to meet other, more specific challenges. In the last year, we have seen a debate on how state alcohol policies may affect tourism. Kerala is largely economically dependent on tourism, and so it was with scepticism that many people welcomed Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s decision on a gradual ban of alcohol in 2014.
All bars (with the exception of five-star luxury bars) were to be closed, and Indian-produced brandy, which is staggeringly popular throughout the country, was to be banned. The decision involved sobering up the most bibulous state in the country: Kerala has the highest consumption of alcohol in India, and social problems related to alcoholism are widespread.
It was, therefore, expected that the tightening of alcohol policies would be met with loud lament. The business community quickly went to court to loosen the restrictions and the authorities responded by introducing temporary derogation licenses. But what will happen with Kerala’s alcohol policy in the near future remains to be seen.
The tourist industry has already reported adverse reactions from international as well as Indian tourists. Russian tourists have also expressed scepticism. According to the website Russia & India Report, many Russians travel to Kerala to celebrate New Year’s Eve. But a New Year’s celebration will be somewhat less attractive if alcohol is hard to come by, and, in addition, expensive.
The tourist industry in Kerala, therefore, wants to put pressure on the authorities to phase out the controversial alcohol policy. Russians may well be the new hippies, but beautiful beaches and Ayurveda are probably not enough to entice them to Kerala.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
