PANAJI
Goa is geared up to host the fourth meeting of the G20 tourism working group and also the tourism ministers' meeting over the next four days starting Monday where a tourism roadmap will be adopted aimed at riding the tourism vehicle to achieve development goals.
According to Union tourism secretary, V Vidyavathi, the G20 ministers' meeting will also pass the G20 tourism ministers' declaration.
Under India's G20 tourism track, the tourism working group is doing work on five interlinked priority areas, including green tourism, digitalisation, skills, tourism MSMEs and destination management, Vidyavathi said.
Events on the sidelines of the G20 meet will tackle cruise tourism, circular economy of plastic in tourism, among other key areas, she added.
Around 150 delegates from eight countries have confirmed participation at the meetings so far.
Meanwhile, in a bid to tap the potential of the G20 delegates acting as ambassadors for Goa's tourism brand, Union Minister of State for Tourism, Shripad Naik took a personal interest in getting officials of his ministry to organise excursions for them.
As part of the itinerary, a special excursion to the Old Goa church complex and Mangueshi Temple has been arranged for the delegates.
Tourism ministers of 13 countries are expected to be in Goa for the meet.
Meanwhile, bilateral talks to boost cooperation in the tourism sector will be held by the United States and India during the G20 events in Goa which gains significance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi due to travel to the US, later.
Meanwhile, Russia, which is in a diplomatic logjam due to its war and invasion of Ukraine, has registered for the Goa meets of the G20 formation.
However, China is yet to register and officials are unsure if the country will attend or skip the two Goa events after it had skipped the third tourism working group meet in Srinagar in May.
