PANAJI
Goa is all set to improve its tourism promotion and ties with Iceland, Israel and Croatia, with State government authorities briefing the three Indian ambassadors of these countries in this regard.
The Tourism Department and Goa Tourism Development Corporation held an interaction with the three Ambassadors who in turn invited the State authorities to organise road shows and send Goan icons to promote tourism facets, exchange ideas on promotion of Carnaval, Goan cuisine, cultural tourism, pilgrimage tourism, heritage and hinterland tourism, fashion tourism and more.
Cabral elaborated on new tourism activities and initiatives recently launched by Goa Tourism that would interest tourists of the three countries.
“We would also like travel and tour operators from Croatia, Iceland and Israel to visit Goa to witness and experience various tourism facets of the State so that they go back and enthuse their nationals to visit Goa,” Cabral told the trio of diplomats.
Earlier in the day, the diplomats met the Chief Minister who said that he had a “productive meeting with the Ambassadors on fostering deeper linkages with the State for effective promotion of business and tourism potential of Goa and better engagement with Indian community overseas.”
All three Indian Ambassadors expressed the desire of promoting Goa tourism in their respective countries in the wake of several commonalities of various aspects on the tourism front.
“Croatia wants to expand its tourism sector and we are looking at an exchange of concrete ideas in promotion of tourism and cultural ties between Croatia and Goa and furthering it with business retreats and investment opportunities in Goa and India,” Sandeep Kumar, Ambassador of India to Croatia said.
For his part, Rajiv Kumar Nagpal, Ambassador of India to Iceland said, “We see a huge prospect of collaborations on the tourism front between Goa and Iceland, with focus on cuisine and food considering the fact that there is a sizeable Indian population in Iceland.”
“There is a lot of commonality between Israel and Goa with regards to pilgrimage and heritage tourism and we can collaborate on these aspects to further tourism ties between the two sides,” Pavan Kapoor, Ambassador of India to Israel stated.
Representatives from the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) were also present for the interaction session where several suggestions and ideas were shared on promoting tourism and cultural ties between Goa and the three countries. Insights were also given into monsoon tourism and nightlife in Goa. Also present for the interaction session was Director of Tourism, Sanjeev Gauns Dessai, Director of Agriculture, U B Pai Kakode, Arvind Khutkar, Deputy Director, Rajesh Kale, Assistant Tourist Officer, Fernanda Vales, Deputy General Manager GTDC, Gavin Dias, PRO GTDC, Deepak Narvekar and others.
