A mega junket is in the offing under the guise of “reviving” the tourism industry, with the tourism department planning road shows and exhibitions in four major cities in October and November.
These road shows will be held in Paris (France) around October 26, Zurich (Switzerland) around October 28, Frankfurt (Germany) around November 1, and Vienna (Austria) around November 3. The 75-odd beneficiaries are expected to comprise politicians, bureaucrats, representatives from travel and tour operators and other stakeholders in the tourism industry.
Though the tourism department through the Goa Tourism Development Corporation is always keen to participate in such international road shows, the results and benefits of such participation is yet to be audited, prompting the opposition to criticise such tours as a ‘junkets’.
The GTDC is organising the road show and has floated a Request For Proposal (RFP) from an agency who can organise and manage the Goa Tourism side at these roads shows.
The GTDC has selected these venues based on studying social media statistics and quantum of visitors.
“The Authority intends to target prospective international customers from the following source markets by participating in road shows/marts but not limited to these countries, as these are top countries based on social media statistics and quantum of visitors”, says the RFP document.
During the road shows, a one-to-one meeting with local travel and tour operators and also with media persons is planned. Also, 100 Goan-branded caps and T-Shirts will be distributed in each road show.
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