The grandeur of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) is always the reason to attract a huge
number of delegates visiting the state during the eight day festival. With
schedules packed with films, master classes, workshops and conversations, the
festival is pouring with venues being overcrowded. This offers one of the best
opportunity for Goa based entrepreneurs with out of the box ideas to get a
kick-start into showing Goa to the world and give IFFI delegates an out of the
box (office) experience
Local art and culture and tourism through
heritage trails and walks can be tapped into to give a glimpse of Goa beyond
Inox, Kala Academy and Porvorim.
Varun Hegde is the founder of Soul
Travelling tours which are being organised and promoted on the IFFI brochures.
Giving a unique travelling experience, the delegates have an opportunity to
look at the greener side of Goa. “IFFI should not be only about the venue and
we want people especially the film fraternity and delegates to get around the
state. For IFFI we are currently focusing on four tours, Latin Quarter Walk in
Fontainhas, The Tavern Trail or the local pub crawl in Panjim, Christian Art
Trail in Old Goa and the Island Explorations in Divar Island. We organise one
tour to each of the places everyday and sometimes we have to do two tours.. We
received many IFFI delegates who were keen to know more about Goa”
Hegde says that there are people with
common interests and they understand that there is more to Goa than just
parties. While the focus of IFFI is on films since there are more people coming
to Goa, there is good potential for local talents and entrepreneurs to gain
from it.
Theatre, art, heritage can be shown to
delegates
Founder of Make It Happen, Maria Victor
felt that IFFI was a good platform when she launched the brand in 2015. “We
launched a new tourism option in Goa through Make It Happen. IFFI is a good
platform for start-ups in Goa and they especially help delegates when they are
present at the venue through stalls. There is a lot of theatre, art and ample
of creative talent in Goa which can be promoted through such platforms which
reaches out in the market.
Victor shared that her team had organised
tours to Fontainhas, Old Goa, Divar then and now now does heritage trails. It
was offering a service to the delegates. We even published maps on things to do
and places to visit in Panjim,” says Maria.
She further adds, “Since there are more tourists visiting the
state especially for the festival, information should be given out especially
for delegates as they have a creative kind of profile and who love to explore
more in the state. With online visibility, many people reach out to us during
this time of the year.”
Tourism professionals should come on board to create a programme
for delegates
Author and photographer Pantaleão Fernandes has been attending
IFFI over the years and had his books on display and sale too at the festival.
However, he feels that a lot more can be done at this annual event. “Along with
IFFI, tourism professionals should come together and create a programme for the
delegates. Now, they come for movies and go to a few neighbouring places and
leave. There are really good village tours which can be done and they can tie
up with various entrepreneurs and give discounts for the delegates. There are
thousands of people visiting Goa and yet there is no marketing of this kind.
Special screening of films shot in Goa
They should have a special screening of films which are shot in
Goa or a special tour should be organised for directors where they can see
different locations which can be promoted. IFFI should not be like an island.
There should be a location booth with photographs of different film shooting
locations,” says the author of ‘Goa: Rare Portraits’.
He adds, “Directors should be taken on eco tourism trips so they
can get ideas and the festival can be used to that advantage. There is no
thought at all on how to use IFFI for the benefit of local entrepreneurs.
Earlier, there was an IFFI guide that featured different aspects of Goa. This
year, it is missing from the delegate kit. As the 50th year, delegates should
have been asked to extend their holidays and stay in hotels and explore more of
Goa. Unfortunately, this is not happening.
Samarth Kholkar is the CEO and Co-Founder at B:live, India’s
first e-bike tours and IFFI was where he got his first client, a film director
from Latin America. “Goa is not a tourist destination but a 365 days tourist
destination. We had an opportunity to showcase the bikes just outside the red
carpet and we received our first paid customer there. IFFI is a great platform
and should be used to promote local talent and experiences to the delegates,”
says Samarth, who has organised 3000 tours in Goa itself.
This year, the festival invited the students of the Goa College
of Art to curate art installations along the Mandovi River promenade in Panjim
that is called the ‘IFFI Mile’. With the entire faculty and 200 college
students, the creative talent of these budding artists is on full display.
Here’s
hoping that the IFFI delegates can encouraging their art at the Golden jubilee.
