The FIFA World Cup 2018 is just around the corner and fans from every major competing country are packing their bags to travel to Russia – the country that is scheduled to hold the football extravaganza. But as we speak there is a country which has seen a sudden jump in their ticket sales to Russia despite them not even playing in the tournament.
The country we are talking about is India. According to a report, Indians are flocking to Russia to witness the World Cup and fans are leaving no stone unturned. As per a recent survey conducted by an Indian online tour and travel company, there has been more than 400 per cent growth in tourism to Russia.
A MakeMyTrip spokesperson said: “The football World Cup is one of the biggest sporting events this year and it coincides with one of the busiest travel time for Indians, holidaying during the summer season.
“The surge in bookings for Russia this year corresponds with multi-city travel itineraries that holiday goers have picked on our platform including cities such as Volgograd, Saransk, Sochi Moscow and St. Petersburg,
“We have witnessed a growth of more than 400 per cent bookings June and July 2018 over last year. “This trend in booking is expected to grow further as we get closer to the World Cup dates. The Russia FAN ID visa has made visa formalities easier for the visitors during the World Cup period.
“Travellers just require a match ticket and registration on the site for the visa and it is couriered to the visitors’ doorstep,” he added. This comes in stark contrast to the current footballing scenario in India where the Indian football team’s captain Sunil Chhetri recently had to plead to the Indian fans asking them to come and watch the national team in action at the stadiums in their own country.
