the goan I network
PANAJI
This pertains to the expenditure on travel of bureaucrats and ministers from Goa when participate in travel marts and road shows in places like Moscow, London, Berlin, Singapore, Los Angeles, New York among several others.
As per information shared by Parulekar, the state government spent Rs 6.03 crore on foreign tours in 2015-16, Rs 6.79 crore in 2014-15 and Rs 10.21 crore in 2013-14.
Sources from tourism trade revealed that the state government was actually over-spending earlier by marketing Goa in destinations from where hardly any tourists came to the state.
As per information shared by Parulekar in Assembly, the state government had spent Rs 65 lakh on a road-show in Australia and New Zealand in August 2013. A source on the condition of anonymity said, “Very few tourists visit Goa from Australia as there are no direct flights connecting two destinations. It doesn’t make any sense in holding a road-show there”
That being the reason the government has now chosen to concentrate its expenditure on marketing Goa at travel-marts from where a lot more tourists can be expected.
This is evident as the state government focused its effort only on major travel marts in the last two years. In 2015-16 and 2014-15 , the state government attended travel marts around the world like WTM London, ITB Berlin, IFTM Paris and OTDYKH Leisure Moscow, but did not do too many road-shows.
Apparently, the department of tourism of central government conducts road-shows across the world marketing several destinations in India to travellers.
This also gives an opportunity to the state government to market Goa on road-shows being undertaken by the central government, which will also help in cutting expenditure.
