Tourism Manohar Babu Ajgaonkar’s may have cleared the air over the controversy surrounding the State-funded tour to United Arab Emirates, but there is no clarity on the success rate of these junkets.
The government is believed to be going by an annual calendar drawn for promoting tourism at national and international level. But there is no assessment or a ‘post-mortem’ done. It is given to understand that stakeholders are involved in drawing up such calendars, but in reality crucial players are kept out of this exercise. In the absence of an audit, these routine junkets will only end up as pleasure jaunts of a privileged few, burning a huge hole in the already cash-strapped treasury. Tourism will benefit nothing.
The year 2018-19 saw a drastic decline in European charters. The biggest worry is that cash-rich Europeans are turning away from Goa and the main challenge would be to woo the high-spending tourist back to Goa. Interestingly, Ajgaonkar’s promotion calendar preferred to head to the Gulf, probably in a desperate bid to woo the Arabs.
Splurging money on junkets is nothing but a colossal waste of public money at a time when the State is facing major fiscal issues. The tourism season has taken a beating and the election code of conduct only made it worse. Meeting tourists and entrepreneurs overseas and showcasing casinos and night life is not going to get us tourists in droves. We must understand that we are facing tough competition and it’s only going to get tougher.
The government has to seriously analyse where Goa tourism stands and where it is headed. All stakeholders have to be involved. Ajgaonkar took over a year to have his first interaction with Travel and Tourism Association of Goa, the apex body representing the Hotel & Travel Trade in Goa, and it speaks volumes of the care-a-damn attitude of the government.
The tourism scenario will never see a drastic reversal merely with such promotions. What is required is a complete overhaul of the sector. Our infrastructure remains pathetic and garbage continues to be biggest eyesore for every single tourist. And the natural beauty which Ajgaonkar is trying to promote is fiction. It’s time to be real to the issues that are at hand. Goa needs innovation and change in tourism structure.
Last year too Ajgaonkar was at the center of a controversy when he was accompanied by his family while on a tourism-promotion tour to the US. The very seriousness of these tours is lost when ministers are accompanied by their families, travelling side-by-side on a holiday. And no matter how serious Ajgaonkar appears to project himself on tourism, there will always be questions asked. It’s time we stop these jaunts and start serious work on the ground to rebuild tourism brick
by brick.
