Goa Tourism must revisit its beach, booze, casino focus: CII

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SME Times News Bureau | 21 Nov, 2020
Goa should relook its focus as a destination for "tropical beaches, alcohol, parties and casinos" and diversify its tourism portfolio on the lines of Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, in order to reinvent itself as a tourism player of significance in the South Asian region, a white paper released by the Confederation of Indian Industry's Goa chapter has said.

The white paper also advocates setting aside of a tourism ministry budgetary fund for setting up prompt testing facilities for Covid-19 and also urges the state government to emulate Covid-19 mechanisms adopted in Germany, Portugal and Scandanavian countries to boost tourism.

"Industry numbers suggest that tourists are travelling to other destinations in India and outside India to countries like Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka etc. One of the common success factors of all these competing countries is diversification of their tourism market. Goa's focus has been mostly on highlighting its tropical beaches, alcohol, parties and casinos and needs a relook," the white paper titled 'Accelerating the Goan Economy - A White Paper' states.

The white paper also suggests reinvention of the state from a mass tourism destination -- 8 million tourists visited Goa in 2019 -- to a "high-end destination" with bespoke luxury experiences.

"This could be in the form of weddings for a limited number of people at picturesque locations such as Reis Magos fort, Museum of Christian Art, Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary, etc. A thinktank can be set up to brainstorm ideas and identify products that can be developed with suitable go-to-market strategies," the paper states.

Goa is regarded as one of the most popular beach and nightlife destinations in the country.