PANAJI
Goa Tourism has undoubtedly invested huge money in international travel expos and road shows to woo citizens from these countries. However, despite these efforts, the outcomes have not matched expectations, at least as per records tabled in the Legislative Assembly for the year 2019-2022.
Despite efforts to attract visitors from European nations through tourism exhibitions in Frankfurt, Vienna, Zurich, Paris, Bahrain, Japan, USA, and Dubai, among others, Goa has seen disappointing results with fewer or no tourists arriving via charters.
Interestingly, despite previous disappointments, the department planned to participate in three more international trade shows in Spain, Germany, and Dubai this year, at a cost of about Rs 3.5 crore. Fitur 2024 was held in Madrid, Spain from January 24-28, with ITB Berlin, Germany scheduled for March 5-7, and ATM, Dubai, planned for May 1-4.
While traditional markets for Goa tourism include the UK, Russia, and Ukraine; there has been a lack of charter tourists from countries like Vietnam, Israel, Iran, Kazakhstan, Poland, Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Qatar, and others.
Ironically, as the 2023-24 season in Goa is nearing end, the Department of Tourism is yet to compile data for the 2022-23 charter season/ provisional figures for 2023-24 as these details were not tabled in response to an unstarred question by legislator Jit Arolkar.
