Russia strikes off Goa, India from its list of safe travel destinations

One of the most popular tourist destination for Russian tourists, Goa, is no longer of the country’s list of safe places to travel. [caption id=“attachment_2525578” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters image.[/caption] India has been removed from the list of safe travel destinations recommended for Russian tourists, Times of India reported citing Russian news agency INTERFAX. This new development by the Russian information centre in Goa comes just days after Russia issued the blacklisting of Egypt and Turkey. "Both India and Goa were not considered as good destinations for Russian travellers," Ekaterina Belyakova, head of the Russian information centre, was quoted as saying in the report. Now the countries considered “safe” for Russian tourists trying to find sunnier climates to escape to are Cuba, south Vietnam and southern China.  This move is likely to affect tourism Goa as the state as over the past few years, the number of Russian tourists was not less than 50 percent of all foreign tourists visiting Goa. According to Zee News, Russians constitute almost half of the total foreign visitor in Goa. Since 2002, the number of Russian tourists has been on the rise steadily. In 2013, the number of Russian tourists visiting Goa was 250,000. Now, Goa Tourism mulls shifting of strategies to woo more Chinese tourists.