Team Herald
PANJIM: The Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) has demanded that the government settle Regional Plan (RP) issues first, before proposing the Tourism Master Plan.
Addressing a press conference in the city, GPCC spokesperson Avinash Tavares slammed the tourism master plan, saying, “the data collected by the appointed consultancy firm KPMG lacks authenticity.”
“The plan is all about killing tourism in South Goa,” said Tavares.
Tavares also raised doubt on the formulation of such policy without taking into confidence the regional plan, saying, “It is just another Investment Promotion Board in the making that will only override the regional plan.”
The panchayats and locals, who would be affected by this Tourism Master Plan, have not been taken into confidence, while formulating the plan, he said.
Tavares said that despite making multiple trips overseas to promote tourism by spending lakhs of rupees, the statistics showed that inflow of foreign tourists has remained stagnant. The growth in tourism is the result of inflow of domestic tourists, he added.
“KPMG has done no research to find out why foreign tourist were coming to Goa and why have they stopped,” Tavares claimed.
