VIBHA VERMA
vibha@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: As tourism stakeholders make attempts to tap travellers from China with the hope that their arrivals might salvage Goa’s faltering tourism industry, talks with a private airline are simultaneously underway to attract these visitors to the State.
A six-member delegation from China is scheduled to arrive in Goa, however their visit is subject to the proposal being approved by the Dr Pramod Sawant government.
Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) recently placed a proposal before the government on how this delegation could help prepare content for Goa Tourism Department and stakeholders to promote the State in Chinese markets.
If the proposal is accepted, the delegation will head for Goa in the first week of February to hold a series of meetings with Sawant, Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar and TTAG.
Along with this, TTAG has zeroed in on an airline that would fly Chinese citizens to Goa either for a holiday or for business. “We have not only approached the China market but also Air Asia airline in order to introduce a wide-body aircraft from Kuala Lampur to Goa,” TTAG president Savio Messias said speaking to Herald.
Led by a person of Goan origin, Air Asia is connected to 26 cities in China, prompting TTAG to look for this option. “Since the airline is connected to so many cities in China, it can bring in tourists to the Kuala Lampur hub and thereafter straight to Goa. We are working on that and invited the airlines’ officials for discussions next month,” he added.
Two crucial meetings next month will decide the fate of Goa tourism in the coming tourist season. TTAG has sought support from the government as well as airport authorities considering that Goa’s tourism sector has been witnessing a significant drop since the last two years.
TTAG is certain that tourists from China will not be backpackers but instead will be good spenders. “It will set a trend of high quality tourists to Goa,” Messias said. With many Indian websites and social networking platforms blocked in China, the team will be promoting Goa through their country’s social media “Weechat” and its websites. This initiative will also help curb wastage of money of the State exchequer as previous ‘foreign junkets’ to China have yielded no results for Goa.
In 2018, a Goa tourism delegation’s visit to Beijing International Travel Mart had raised many eyebrows in the wake of poor response during the preceding years too. Last year, the State Level Marketing Committee, that decides on participation in international shows in different countries and states, dropped China from their list.
