Of late there has been a great deal of discussion in the public space about the number and the kind of tourists coming to Goa. There are a few events however that bring in visitors who would otherwise not come to Goa. Sporting events in Goa have a niche all their own and seem to attract visitors from the rest of the country and the world.
In the beginning
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Elias Patel the founder director of Enduro Sports Goa was sitting with friends sometime in 2014 and discussing the kind of tourist that was coming into Goa. It was important to bring in the tourists who would come to Goa , spend a decent amount of money and get healthy while doing it. That then became the core principle of the company. The focus he said was to attract high quality sports tourism to Goa, with the emphasis on health, well being and family based sports events.
Speaking about the miniOrange Aquamoga he said it was a unique one of its kind multi day sporting event which celebrates the ocean and encompasses 2 days of the Goa Swimathon in 1, 2, 5 and 10kms format which was founded in 2011. The Goa Triathlon- Olympic distance was founded in 2014 and The Goa Aquathlon made its debut this year.
Ironman in Goa
Another positive for Goa is the Ironman which will be conducted in the State since 2019. Neil D’silva the Deputy Race Director of Ironman Goa said, “ Since the first year there have been around 1200 participants who have come from 30 countries in the first year. Till date participants from around fifty seven countries have participated. Around 10-15 percent are foreigners. On an average they stay for 10 days. Former world champion Natascha Badmann has participated in the event. The domestic competitor stays an average of seven days”. When asked what the economic effect was he said on an average the event generated around Rs 40 crore every year.
Response
The response to miniOrange Aquamoga was very good. They had almost 600 participants at this event, the majority of which were from other parts of India. The event also saw a percentage of International athletes from Europe, the Middle East, Australia, South Asia and North America. The triathlon saw around 150 participants from outside. There were no Goans participating. 6 to 8 percent of the participants were from countries like England, Russia and Germany. He said the international participants would stay for two days while the domestic participants stayed as long as a week in very good hotels. Several of the international athletes were pretty famous. Caroline Mullinez, Terry Perry , Susan Hunt to name a few. Caroline is a senior consultant in a top tier consultancy in addition to being a competitor.
He refused to say how much they had earned but he said they had met their costs. The future he said was bright and they planned to have these events every year.
Growing in Stature
The SKF Goa river marathon was the first ever marathon in the State. Rakesh Unny the secretary of the Vasco Sports club which are the organisers of the club said the idea came in 2009. Some of the members were running in preparation for their participation in the Mumbai marathon. They would run from Chicalim to Cortalim along the Zuari river. The group went to Mumbai and came back. The feeling was that they were running in a concrete jungle. Rakesh said, “ The route we ran on was beautiful , the air was clean , the river was clean and it was just fantastic. We decided to organise a marathon. We had the first edition in 2010. Through online registration we got 350 responses from all over India with three percent from Goa. That year we had a 21 km race and a 5 km fun run. The next year we had 800 responses with the Goan response less than 5 percent. The hotels in Vasco were all full. The response from India was great. This was sporting tourism. Just before covid we reached 7000.” He said it was obvious by then that something had to be done to improve Goan participation. They started a 10 km run and that got the Goan signing up. The organisers signed up with the tourism department. A complete carnival atmosphere was created. Brazz bands would perform. People lined the routes and the hill would provide a shade till 10 o’clock in the morning. They are the only people to now present a full marathon. It is also accredited to the association of international marathons. The timings in this race can guarantee a runner a place in the big races like London, Tokyo, New York etc. These days around 5000 people take part with 60 percent being domestic and the rest from countries like Russia, Finland, USA and Germany. Rakesh said the domestic runners would usually stay for 3 to 4 days. The fact that this race is among the five most scenic marathons in the country helps its case. It is also featured on the Ahotu website which is followed by serious marathoners all over the world.
It is obvious that the State has something to offer for everyone and perhaps some innovative thinking will bring about a change in the tourism industry in the State.
