the goan I network
PANAJI
Minister for Tourism Manohar “Babu” Azgaonkar on Friday refuted all allegations made by the Congress Party on the recently held roadshows in the USA asserting that these were justified as the Tourism Department has a mandate to hold such events as its primary obligation.
He admitted that some of his family members accompanied him but at their own expense. He slammed the opposition for unnecessarily creating controversies.
“Concerted efforts are required to be put in to bring in tourists, especially from countries from where we receive fewer footfalls. This is not the first time that such international road shows have been organized. The Tourism Department has been organizing such road shows in the past, including during the time of the Congress regime,” Azgaonkar said.
The Congress had accused Azgaonkar of promoting Goa in the USA which sends less than 2% foreign tourists to Goa and asked him to come clean on how much he has spent and how many
tourists will come to Goa as
a result.
“There is 100 percent transparency in the functioning of the Tourism Department and anyone seeking information can obtain the same any time,” Azgaonkar said.
He said that the official delegation included only Chairman GTDC Nilesh Cabral, Principal Secretary Tourism Dharmendra Sharma and Deputy Director of Tourism Rajesh Kale.
Azgaonkar said that he is firmly committed to improving the tourism sector in Goa and efforts are on to bring in quality tourists to the State from niche markets.
The Tourism Department has strongly rallied behind marketing and promotion of Goa tourism in international markets especially niche destinations across the globe. The department clarified further the decision pertaining to the event was arrived at after taking opinions and expert advice from stakeholders in the travel and tourism industry.
Thereafter, an annual calendar is prepared for marketing and promotion of events both in national and international markets which is recommended by a state-level marketing and promotion committee comprising members from various stakeholders of the tourism industry. An approval is sought from the government thereafter and delegations are drawn up for participating in such marketing and promotional tours.
The department has clarified that the road shows in USA in Chicago held on May 22 and New York on May 24 are from the marketing and promotion calendar enlisted for international promotions and road shows for the year 2017-18.
Agreeing that the US has not contributed enough in terms of footfalls to Goa over the last few years, the Tourism Department has reiterated that in the fiercely competitive tourism sector only concerted efforts in this direction will earn results as has been the case with other foreign markets.
The department further pointed out that the delegation which visited the US conducted several B2B sessions and interactions with travel and tour operators, media, and members of travel trade and have received encouraging responses.
