PANJIM: Considering a dip in tourist arrivals in the recent past, the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) has urged the Goa government to cancel road shows scheduled in different countries from April.
The largest umbrella of travel and tour operators, in its letter to Tourism Director Sanjiv Gadkar, has expressed its opposition to participating in road shows in untapped markets.
“While we applaud you for selecting the trade fairs correctly but for maximum presence and visibility for Goa we would like to put on record that we are against participating in any road shows in untapped markets for the time being. We urge you to cancel the program for the road shows as they serve no benefit to the industry at this point. We should be concerned and concentrating on our traditional feed markets and understanding the reasons for the fall in numbers from these markets before exploring new markets which do not have direct connectivity with Goa,” reads the letter by TTAG president Savio Messias.
TTAG also pointed out that unqualified delegates are travelling for the trade shows, a practice that needs to be curtailed and that Goa should show a professional and ‘can do’ attitude. Messias has also suggested that tourism business stakeholders be invited to ‘pay their own way’ and attend these fairs with the promise of table space for them to meet potential clients. A subsidy for smaller businesses and experience providers can be worked on by Goa government, he suggested.
“It is important that the State delegation should meet TTAG to finalise the strategy for every travel mart as done in Kerala and at the end of the travel mart a report be submitted on business realised/prospects generated and should be circulated to the trade for them to work on the leads provided by the delegation,” the letter further states. At the end, TTAG has demanded that they be consulted when such plans are formulated and discussed.
The travel marts and road shows at several countries have always been questioned by stakeholders for the reason that footfalls from these places have either been nil or poor, despite repeated trips.
