GOA: Goa's travel industry is now targeting tourists from Iran and Turkey, an industry official said Friday. Six charter flights from Iran are expected to arrive in Goa in the first two months of 2011 carrying nearly 1,000 tourists, Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) spokesman Ralph de Souza told reporters here.
'We have been receiving one or two charter flights coming in from Iran, but this year we have six flights coming in,' he said.
The state's travel and tourism industry in the state was also lobbying with the state government to promote Goa tourism in Turkey, in light of the visit of the Turkish ambassador to Goa recently.
'Apart from these countries we have also appealed to the tourism department to promote Goa in nearly 20 European capitals and major cities like Madrid and Barcelona (Spain), Paris as well as cities in north America, which have direct connectivity to Goa via Doha,' de Souza said.
De Souza said the new, more stringent multi-entry visa regime, which stipulated that a foreign tourist spend a two month period outside India after a three month stay, had severely hit Goa's reputation as a long haul summer destination for tourists and the state could take a ten percent hit in arrivals.
'The new visa regime is very problematic for us. It is really affecting the long stayers from western Europe who used to spend their entire winter in sunny Goa,' he told reporters here.
'In the present scenario, after spending three months in India, they have to spend a two month cooling period outside India. This makes it non-practical to spend their vacations here. Several tourists take two vacations per season. These visa regime changes will affect them too,' he said.
Goa's six month long tourism season begins in October during which the state attracts nearly 2.5 million tourists, nearly half a million of whom are foreigners. (CN.N)
15 comments:
Very Good!!!! Plenty of more Atala's will surface! Keep it up Gua Goverment. Your coffers are already overflowing and you monkeys are still not happy with it.
Good for the drug lords, they can now be assured of a very good income for the season. However, DySP Salgaokar and Hasish Naik can be ready with a measuring scale to deliver the consignment.
Ratol Baba!!! I feel that your business will go down, down, down!!! What to do now??? I don't know! I think it's high time we fry these ranes and eat them with a peg of whiskey or whatever(like it or not)
Do not insult our motherland by using the word 'Gua' for GOA. You people are not referring to the police or the government when you say "Gua" because the word you people are trying to change is GOA to "Gua". So please stop, this. You can call whatever names you want to the police of Goa or the Government of Goa but do not insult our motherland GOA.
Alcantro.....please understand that most people here don't believe that the present government is in the best interest of GOA or the Goan people and so some feel they are a different government - not the GOA government. The police are corrupt, read all accounts of tourists to Goa in their blogs on the Internet. Please understand our frustration, as the situation in Goa is not good at all. Just the last 10 years the drastic changes that have happened in Goa under this present leadership does not provide for a good future for the Goan people of Goa. My heart breaks for Goa, as I see the writing on the wall....it is liking watching an automobile accident about to happen, you know what is going to happen, but you are paralyzed to do anything to stop it. Only the people in Goa can do the right thing and stop it! All I can do is pray that they will wake up and do it.......on another note, I am interested to see how our Jewish friends and the new tourists will get along with the Arab neighbours in our tiny Goa. I hope they don't take to fighting and bombing our Goa to get back at each other. Sometimes I feel our people in Government are foolish and don't think through. But again, all I can do is watch from the sidelines of what will invariably happen....Look at recent events of every coastal community where the two groups have come together has spelled doom for those coastal communities. They will bare the blunt of it all, with bombings. Foolish decisions at the cost of this tourism....People of Goa want easy money at any cost! Unintelligent people running Goa….but this is what the people of Goa want……Nizgoenkar, please reprint my comments once my predictions sadly come true.
Attention all my Brothers and Sisters !
Let us not change the name of Goa to any other name but GOA. Goa is beautiful. The people of Goa are beautiful. Everything about Goa is beautiful. We must be role models for the newborn and the young generation. The good values we teach them today must be their foundation to build the future generations to come. Dear Mr.Alcantro Carneiro, your message is well accepted and I would like to thank you for highlighting. Mr.DLP is a huge contribution on this forum and sometimes we say things out of frustration without realizing our mistake. I always appreciate if someone point my mistakes to me because it makes me a better person by correcting myself. We need you and Mr.DLP and all the other commentators on this forum to continue because we are already seeing the beginning of changes in Goa after the birth of NIZ GOENKAR, and its all because of you, you and you on this forum. I am sure there are so many who are reading Niz Goenkar, even the politicians and Ministers. How I wish to meet each one of you in person, shake your hand and say Thank You !
No Joao, I saw comments by one Chandrakant Kankonkar about the word and reading that I felt he was right and we who fight for our motherland to rid it of its corrupt leaders should use the word respectfully. It may not have any value to the corrupt politicians but for us, the children of its soil, the word GOA means everything and lot.
Mr. Joao.. you should be more vocal on the forum. I can understand that you might be busy but your once in a while comments on this forum are really appreciated. I know we have plenty of unknowlingly supporters like you but I want them to come forward either with us or against us. We all learn from our mistakes. Thank you and let us stick to our cause. God Bless us all Niz Goenkars!
Dear DLP, as far as I can remember you were one of the 4 or 5 on then Herald comment forum who paved a way for NIZ GOENKAR. Days before Herald stopped its comments section, Mr.Menino wrote that he is creating a blog "NIZ GOENKAR" and I thought to myself why are we splitting, why can't we remain all in one place and comment ? I was wrong, as the unexpected happened and Herald finally succumbed to political pressure and closed its comments forum on 31st August 2010. Dalia wrote an article titled "The Biased and too Timid Act of Herald". Herald may have closed its comments section but through NIZ GOENKAR our voices have become more louder and convincing so much so that even the corrupt are reading and making an effort to change. Dear DLP, you must excuse me because I am not a good writer. I have so much in my mind but I find it quite difficult to put in writing. To be frank I am VII Standard passed so you must understand my difficulty. I will be happy to write here once in a while. I enjoy reading the comments from everyone as I find them very informative and an educative experience. You'll have embarked on a mission to make Goa a better place for all Goans, and my moral support will always be with you'll. Dev Borem korunk sogleank ! Viva Goa ! Viva Niz Goenkar !!
Joao, it is not of importance that you have done only VII but these rogue politicians of ours have done less than that and some upto IX yet you are very sensible and a lover of Goa unlike these stupid animals who are ruling and are in the opposition.
Dear Joao, you don’t have to be ashamed of your studying upto VII. Don’t be disheartened, you are perfectly correct in your English language. Don’t worry our older days Std. VII was considered very high than compared to the present education system. Our main motto over here is to support wholeheartly our Goan identity against these corrupt politicians and not the language we express. So carry on with your comments and I am sure your comments will be appreciated by everyone. Keep up the good work. Viva Goa.
Joao, you are a true Goan of the soil, born in a paradise on earth. That's all that's important! We are ONE people now - UNITED we Stand, Divided we fall. Thank you for doing whatever you can to keep this dialog going, I believe something good will come out of it. We could loose OUR Goa, so everyone should try to do their part whatever small, wherever they are in the world. Different ideas are a good thing. Thanks to Nizoenkar for their hard work in keeping this site open for all of us. Thanks to Dalia for her suggestion and to all those who comment or write in.
As I too busy let me comment here. To unite Goa and to write on this blog, we may not need the highest form of grammar. The meaning itself is enough. Joao, my brother, you should not feel otherwise about your education. All of us here on this forum are not here because we are highly educated but for the love of Goa, to change things. What if our EDUCATION MINISTER himself is without any education? He is a goonda but with your Class VII, we never read Joao is involved in goondaism and corruption. So welcome brother, write your views like many of us. Can you believe that this blog is so popular in Goa that people stopped reading online Herald for a long time? I am in Goa and feeling the pulse of this blog from many, it is now reaching to every nook and corner. You read, you say in print and lots of people read this. This blog has already changed the vision of many in Goa. We are surely heading for better even though it may make a little difference. The change is coming. Thank you Menino for all your precious time and the expenses you put up with to give us a voice. Thanks to all the Niz Goenkars for your say on the blog. We may not be right at all time but it can broaden our minds. Please post the Niz Goenkar to every Goan whom you know. Viva Niz Goenkar, Viva Menino.
Thanks to all for being yourselves, the niz Goenkars. I will be here as often as I can, and I promise to everyone that I will be a Niz Goenkar in words, deeds and action. Some wise man said "Where there is unity there is always victory". So let us remain firmly united. Viva Goa ! Viva Niz Goenkar !!
I´ve never been there. I only travelled to Argentina once and stayed in one of those hotels in palermo holywood. The experience with a different culture was great, so I guess I´m ready for Iran now!
Rachel
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