PANJIM: A team of three tourism officials flew to Tokyo, Japan, Tuesday evening, two days after two other teams returned from Russia (Moscow), France and Switzerland on Sunday. The foreign trips, officials say, are a part of tourism promotion drive of the government.
After ministers and legislators came under the spotlight after the cost of these ‘junkets’ made headlines, it appears as if the State government has now decided to send tourism officials instead.
Goa Tourism Development Corporation Managing Director Nikhil Desai and officials Mark Mendes and Badani left for Tokyo on a 6:30 pm flight. They will attend the JATA Japan travel mart, at which six other States are also taking part. This comes merely two days after GTDC General Manager (Finance) Sawant, PRO Deepak Narvekar and Ludovina Rodrigues returned from Moscow. They had left on September 15.
Another team of officials comprising Tourism Deputy Director Pamela Mascarenhas, Brijesh Manekar and Gavin Dias had visited France and Switzerland and returned on Sunday.
The three trips within a week have created quite a buzz with questions being asked on the need for so many trips and in such quick succession. GTDC Chairman Nilesh Cabral says there is need for keeping Goa’s brand as a tourism destination alive.
“This is a normal trip,” he said. “We cannot go, so we are sending our officials. What is wrong (in this)? Somebody has to represent Goa in other countries and market tourism. We are a known brand but just like Colgate and Pepsi, we need to keep this alive.”
He said that while the Tokyo trip is associated with the tourism promotion plan, the other trips were to participate in travel marts.
The government had faced heavy criticism after documents tabled in the Assembly recently had shown that Rs 13.24 crore was spent on tourism junkets since this government took office in 2012.
The trips ostensibly to “promote tourism” saw three ministers – Dilip Parulekar (Tourism), Milind Naik (Power) and Mahadev Naik (Industries) and MLAs Anant Shet, Ganesh Gaonkar, Subhash Phal Desai and Nilesh Cabral going abroad.
Before that the government had faced flak for sanctioning a Rs 89 lakh Ministers’ and MLAs’ World Cup junket to Brazil. This trip’s official status had to be cancelled and the MLAs had to pay from their own pocket.
Parulekar had defended the earlier junkets to Portugal, Russia, Germany, UK, China, Finland, etc, claiming that they were necessary to promote tourism.
Goa attracts three million tourists annually, which includes half a million foreign tourists.
