The smallest state from India will soon form a four-state tourism combination to entice high-end spenders, according to Ameya Abhyankar, the director of the department of tourism.
Dubai
— Alarmed by a dip in tourists’ inflow this season and also to counter the
likely after-effects of a possible tie-up between Kerala and Sri Lanka, the
Indian state of Goa has chalked out a strategy: Get itself into a partnership.
The
smallest state from India will soon form a four-state tourism combination to
entice high-end spenders, according to Ameya Abhyankar, the director of the
department of tourism.
“Goa
government has held talks with the tourism development boards of Maharashtra,
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to formulate a joint policy to promote their various
tourism facets. A follow-up meeting will be scheduled soon that will also see
participation of various stakeholders from the quartet states to chalk out
promotional activities. We are taking into confidence all the tourism
stakeholders and we hope to come out with a policy by November,” Abhyankar told
the Khaleej Times at a recent event in Dubai.
Kerala
and Sri Lanka are set to forge an alliance to promote their tourism activities,
and it will pose a challenge to Goa. “Unless we take necessary action, Goa
might lose their visitors to Kerala and Sri Lanka. We have therefore decided to
form a four-state circuit. We plan to draw foreign tourists to world heritage
sites like Ajanta-Ellora in Maharashtra, Hampi in Karnataka and Mahabalipuram
in Tamil Nadu. Goa does not compete with these three states in terms of what it
has to offer to the tourists and its a win-win situation for us. Foreign
tourists normally come on month-long tours and Goa being a small state they
feel there is not much to see after a fortnight or so. And this joint
initiative will convince them of having a fun-filled trip of a longer
duration,” explained Abhyankar.
A
striking 25 per cent dip in the arrivals of Russians this tourist season has
compelled Goa to sit up and take notice. The drop in Russian visitors, who made
up for nearly 60 per cent of all charter tourists to Goa in 2013, can be
attributed to the depreciation of rouble this year.
Goa
now wants to attract visitors from all parts of the world instead of focusing
only on one country. Goa recorded 5,13,592 arrivals from more than 30 nations
in 2014, an increase of 21,270 compared to 2013 despite a significant decline
in the number of arrivals from US, Lithuania and Czech Republic. But a steep
rise of tourists from France, UAE, Japan and Iran kept Goa officials visibly
happy.
“The
recent visa-on-arrival programme will offset the fall in tourism numbers. Visitors
from 26 countries availed this facility as between December 4, 2014, and March
15; 12,639 visas were issued at Goa airport,” Abhyankar pointed out.
Goa
has bagged several awards during the last five months to put more spotlight on
the tourist destination, which is known for its time-honoured ‘susegad’
tradition’, or the famous relaxed, laid-back way of life, as a Goan calls it.
The
Preferred Leisure Destination, Best Wedding and Honeymoon destination, Best
Beach Destination were some of the awards which came Goa’s way, but the icing
on the cake is getting global recognition as a “ safe tourism destination” by
National Geographic that placed Goa at the sixth spot in ‘Top 10 Nightlife
Cities’ list.
In
National Geographic’s ‘Top 10 Nightlife Cities’ list, Dublin in Ireland took
the top spot, followed by Belgrade in Serbia, La Paz in Bolivia, Sao Paulo in Brazil, San Juan in
Puerto Rico, Goa In India, Ibiza in Spain, Houston in Texas, Thessaloniki in
Greece and Baku in Azerbaijan. “This awards go a long way in giving Goa more
prominence and drawing more travellers to the state,” commented Abhyankar.
Goa
is also putting things in order to curb illegalities in the tourism sector. “We
will completely revise the existing legislations, Tourists Trade Act and Goa
Tourist Places (Protection and Maintenance) Act to add teeth to the laws to
deal with offences like littering beaches, tourist spots and drinking on beaches.
The process of revising the two legislations has already started and they will
be tabled in the monsoon of the Goa assembly,” Abhyankar said.
The
official emphasised the importance of road shows. “Road shows play a major role
in promoting any tourist destination as they create outbound awareness and this
information comes from the offices of travel consultants. We do around eight
road shows every year and they bring lots of foreign tourists,” Abhyankar
added.
Photo:
Goa has been promoting itself as a tourism destination in Dubai. — Supplied
photo
Kaleej
Times
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