Tourism stakeholders seek to tap other airlines to keep British tourist inflow

PANJIM: With the fate of charter tourism on the decline, in view of the collapse of Thomas Cook UK just a week before the season commences next month, the State government has been urged to tap three airlines to ensure that the inflow of UK visitors to Goa does not stop. 

UK’s oldest tour operator’s collapse has come as a big blow to the tourism industry as it ferried thousands of visitors from UK to Goa annually.

A delegation of the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG), along with representatives of Thomas Cook UK in Goa, met the Tourism Secretary on Tuesday suggesting that seats be increased or bigger aircrafts of Qatar Airlines, Air India and Thomson Airways be arranged to Goa.

“We are looking at other airlines to bring British tourists to Goa. Therefore, we met the Tourism Secretary urging to increase the capacity of these flights so that the UK visitors’ flow to Goa is not affected. However, it is not an easy task as the Central government, as well as officials from the respective airlines, will have to be roped in,” TTAG president Savio Messias told Herald.

The delegation has been assured that the government will make attempts to speak to the concerned authorities in a bid to bail out the tourism industry. It has also come to the fore that the stakeholders are looking at some charter companies in the UK to start operations in Goa, another move to ensure Goa remains on the Britishers’ list of favorite destinations.

The six-month tourist season is set to start next week, with the arrival of the first chartered flight from Russia on October 4, while the first charter flight from UK is due in November. The State, ahead of the season, has already received a setback, with National Green Tribunal’s order staying the implementation of the Shack Policy 2019-22 till the CZMP is finalised, as well as many tourists seeking affordable and controversy-free tourist destinations elsewhere.