MARGAO
Come next year and tourism in Goa will be promoted as a single-window wedding destination with the Tourism department sharing the views of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to promote the country as a wedding destination.
Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte told the media at Colva after inaugurating the three-day Spirit of Goa festival on Friday that tourism is not a department, but an industry which needs to encash the emerging opportunities.
“With the Prime Minister laying stress on promoting the country as a wedding destination, tourism in Goa will be promoted as a single-window wedding destination. Tourism is an industry and not a department. When tourism contributes to around 16.43 per cent of the GDP, we have to give tourism a big boost. The industry is also a big employer, providing 35 per cent employment, both direct and indirect,” he said.
The Tourism Minister took the platform to reassure the people of South Goa that both Mopa and Dabolim will co-exist in the state. In fact, he slammed politicians for creating the North-South divide on the issue of the airport when the government has given a categorical assurance that both airports will coexist.
He said the government is conscious of the fact that tourism needs to be promoted in South Goa as well. “We are promoting MPT as a cruise terminal when the government could have taken the project to Aguada. Similarly, we hosted the World Beach volleyball in Colva in South Goa to give a boost to tourism in down South. We have a large inventory of hotels in South Goa and the government is committed to promoting tourism in South Goa as well,” he added.
The Tourism Minister underscored the need to tap the tourism markets across the globe and not restrict to only Russia and the UK.
“That is the reason why we are going to Arabian Travel Mart to promote Goa as a world-class tourism destination. I have requested the Chief Minister to take the bureaucrats to the ATM to encash on the tourism business.
“I am proud to say that the Goa stall was one of the best stalls at the Indian pavilion. We received a pat on our back from the Indian Ambassador and the Consul General for putting up a lovely staff. We cannot do business in one place. We have to go and tap emerging tourism markets,” he asserted.
This is the second year that the Spirit of Goa festival is being held at Colva, with the Minister asserting that the festival had received a good response last year.
Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas thanked the Tourism Minister and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant for hosting the Spirit of Goa festival at Colva for the second year in succession, saying the festival will give a big boost to the local tourism industry.
