Can football score a winning Goal to boost Goa’s tourism?

It combines two things that Goa is known for, football and
tourism. Its players display a style and pizzazz not generally found in other
players in the land. And its beaches are famous all over the world making it a
tourist hotspot. Three venues and the teams and their support staff will be
based here in the state. In these tough times that seems like Godsend. But the games will be played to empty stadiums without
spectators. This means that there will no travelling spectators either. Savio Messias, is perhaps the best placed to speak about both
tourism and football. He has been the Goa Football Association President as well
as headed that Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG). “The ISL being
held entirely in Goa will certainly help some stakeholders like hotels,
transporters, taxi services and vendors who supply decorative stuff. It will
create a great deal of business”. Nilesh Shah President TTAG welcomed the move saying it would
ensure some economic activity and would ensure a multiplier effect. He said
“The small food supply chain will benefit. It will send some positive relief to
an industry that has badly burned. The fact the organizers will be promoting
Goa is great news because in these troubled times we need all the help we can
get.” Jack Sukhija of Welcome Heritage Panjim Inn was categorical when
he said this was great news after the really bad time the industry had been
experiencing for the last six months.  He said “It is a godsend for
tourism and the state economy. It is a tournament spread over 3 months with
each team numbering around 30. That will mean around 250-300 rooms. That means
around 30,000 odd room nights. Then there is the food, transport, logistics,
media rights etc which will kick start. A lot of people are in dire straits”. Another hotelier struggling in these tough times is John Jacob,
VP Operations, Whispering Palms Beach resort was happy that something good was
happening. He said “There has been nothing good to write about for the last six
months. Nothing has been moving and now this, thankfully due to the efforts of
the government, the tournament will be staged here. It will bring much-needed
revenue into the system. I hope there are many more initiatives by the
government to revive tourism.” Another positive fallout of the ISL being held in Goa would be
an opportunity to market it as a safe destination. The tournament would be
watched by Indians and by NRIs living in other countries or Goans living in
England. And yet there maybe friends and family of the foreign players who
would watch the matches online. Football ball has given tourism a hope. Let us see if it scores
a winning goal against the COVID hit tourism economy.