panaji a direct flight between goa and russia as part of the air bubble arrangement will start from april 14 but tourism stakeholders in the state said that it is of no use unless tourist visas are opened goa receives about 9 lakh international travellers with most of them coming from various parts of russiawe dont know if a visa on arrival would be allowed very few people travel to goa on business visa so we wonder how the airline will be able to sustain its operation on this route travel and tourism association of goa ttag president nilesh shah said he said that there has to be clarity also on the covid protocols that the travellers and operators need to follow shah however is hopeful that the government would start issuing visas sooner or later goas charter season starts in november and goes on till midmay however for the first time in the several decades goa has not received a single charter while starred hotels have been able to sustain themselves by relying on domestic tourists the small hotels that catered to charter tourists have remained shut for the seasonsita travels chief operating officer ernest dias said that the government should issue tourist visas in europe and russia people are travelling to other countries only when tourist visas are issued people will be able to book their holidays he said dias said the current season is almost coming to an end but to enable foreign tourists to book their holidays the government must declare in advance from when it will start issuing visas otherwise even the next season will be as bad he saidminar travels india vicepresident abida kumar said that the direct flight holds no hope in the absence of tourist visas only people having business visas will be able to travel on this flight but how many people will travel he said while the announcement of a direct flight has come at the time when the tourist season is above to end the industry can still benefit if tourist visas are issued from next month and goa receives one flight a day