Goa to woo Chinese tourists; plans promotional activities

To increase the number of foreign tourist arrival, stakeholders in Goa tourism are looking at China to tide over the slump in the arrival of inbound tourists. A six-member delegation from China is scheduled to arrive in Goa to prepare content and guide the Goa tourism department and stakeholders on how to promote the coastal state in Chinese markets, which is virgin territory for the state’s tourism industry. Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) president Savio Messias said that there is a downfall in international tourist arrivals in Goa by almost 30-40 per cent. “There are several factors responsible for this phenomenon, and one of them is shutting down of Thomas Cook, UK, which was flying charters in Goa,” he said. “Promotions in China are different from the rest of the world. They don’t use Facebook, Google or Whatsapp. We will have to design websites in the Chinese language to reach to them,” he said. Goa attracts around four lakh international visitors every year, whose number has gone down significantly in the last two years. Russia and Britain are two traditional markets for Goa.