Number of applications for Russian visa from Kolkata rises since Covid

KOLKATA: The number of visa applicants to Russia from Kolkata has recovered by 50% since Covid, tourism development officials from the war-torn country, visiting the city for a tourism road show, said on Friday.
"There are still questions and doubts raised about the safety and well-being of tourists in Russia because of the ongoing situation. But we are here to assure that it is absolutely safe to visit Russia. Back in 2019, there were around 5,000 applications from Kolkata.
In 2022, we had received around 2,500 and this year, the response has been good as well," said Alexey Idamkin, consul general of the Russian Federation in Kolkata.
With no direct flights out of Kolkata, the best way to travel to Russia's capital Moscow is via Delhi where Russian airline Aeroflot operates daily direct flights. Moscow can also be reached from Kolkata via UAE in Air Arabia flights, which operates three flights a week from the city.
Officials said Kolkata was among the fourth biggest source of tourists to Russia from India. While a majority of them head there for studying medicine and engineering, others travel for business and tourism.
"There is a growing demand for tourism in Moscow and St Petersburg from Kolkata. An ideal seven-night vacation here costs around Rs 1.5 lakh per head," said Manav Soni, chairman (east), Travel Agents Association of India. Anil Punjabi of Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) said talks were on to initiate direct connections between Kolkata and Moscow.