THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The tourism departments of Goa, Uttarkhand and Kerala have decided to form a Tourism Board to establish links with the Russian Tourism and Cultural Ministry.
The union Ministry of Tourism will also be involved. The key areas under the purview of the board will include a marketing campaign to increase the arrival of Russian tourists to India through various cultural and tourism promotional programmes.
Talks were held between Olga Yarilova, the head of Tourism and Regional Policy Department of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and P.I. Sheikh Pareeth, the state tourism director.
The Russian delegation raised issues on reducing visa fees and airport fee incurred on chartered flights from Russia to India, which will be taken up with concerned authorities.
The Russian officials also expressed concern about the lack of Russian guides in Kerala.
“Considering the issues raised, we have agreed to publish a list of Russian guides in our Kerala Tourism’s Russian language version website,” Mr Pareeth said.
