At the Goa Tourism roadshow…lighting the lamp ceremony and all tourist agents from Maharashtra and Goa pose for a picture with India Tourism and Goa Tourism dignitaries here help tourism survive and revive despite Covid-19 scares! That’s Additional Director General Rupinder Brar (in saree) with her message of “dekho apna desh” and how the show must go with all precautions in place

By Pankajbala R Patel

Is the new thrust of Incredible India Tourism Policy 2020 as emphasized by at a Domestic Tourism Roadshow organized in Panaji on December 19, 2020…

FINALLY, it may seem we have a sensible tourism police in India! Everyone up there is now urging Indians to see their own country north, south, east and west before going abroad – holiday in apna desh India first! All in all it’s a `Dekho Apna Desh’ signal going out for Indians with money to spend in the new Tourism Policy 2020 released at a Domestic Tourism Roadshow meeting organized in Panaji on December 19, 2020, by Tourism Goa Secretary J Ashok Kumar.

Speaking to tourism stakeholders from Goa and Maharashtra, he said that as far as Goa is concerned the new policy aims to make Goa the most preferred destination by 2024, but this means shifting beachside tourism to hinterland tourism. For Goa has more to offer visitors than just  sun, sand and sea, as is the popular perception.

He said Goa has an equally exciting different kind of sightseeing to do with eco-tourism incorporating cultural, heritage and wildlife heritage. Along with him in the visiting India Tourism team was Additional Director General Rupinder Brar, who too echoed the general message going out, she quipped that Indians should think Goan beaches before thinking Thailand beaches!

While inaugurating the road show Ms Brar quipped that although Covid-19 is still around there is no harm in taking all precautions and having fun holidays in India – generally speaking, make “dekho apna desh” your motto. In this respect the Ministry of Tourism has launched both the Dekho Apna Desh campaign and a webinar series which has been popularly received. 

Also in this respect the Union Ministry of Tourism is organizing domestic tourism road shows in the western and central regions to bring together various tourism stakeholders – these business to business meetings will facilitate a revival of tourism which has been in the doldrums since the arrival of Covid-19 earlier this year.

The new policy acknowledges that domestic tourism is the backbone of tourism in India and deserves better. The official focus is to encourage Indians to see their own country first and in this way we will arrive at a more meaningful, sustainable and complementary tourism to boost the economy of the country. The revised guidelines of the ministry offer schemes for marketing development assistance and promoting domestic tourism.

Needless to say from the sound of it the new tourism policy makes a lot of common sense although at the moment Goa hoteliers may be pining for the longer stay charter tourism from abroad to come back! For that is what keeps the small hospitality ventures busy and in business (never mind that the Russian charter tourists have left a none too happy legacy behind of drugs and takeovers in some coastal villages). Many Goans also rue the flip side of promoting tourism to cater to the darker side of casinos, wine, women and song.

But as with most everything else much of this year has gone to waste courtesy Covid-19 and its lockdowns, the  economy coming to a practical halt. However the scenario is likely to change in the months to come and present at the Goa roadshow were tour operators from Goa and Maharashtra, with 15 operators driving down from the neighboring Maharashtra state to see the road conditions for themselves, as also to see for themselves how Goa’s famed tourism business conducts itself and how it may be replicated in south Maharashtra which has some splendid beaches.

 Goa, of course, has unparalled luxury hotels rolling out the red carpet for crème de la crème tourism from abroad and the rest of the country – everybody wants to come to Goa to get married for some reason surely. Plus, as the Goa Tourism documentary presented by Department of Tourism Director Menino d’Souza depicted,  Goa has everything to offer by way of top notch creature comforts, as also exciting beachside sporting attractions like surfing, paragliding, sky diving, not to mention scuba diving and wild water rafting in inland river tourism ventures during the season.

 Bungee jumping has been introduced for thrills and chills excitement. There are heritage churches and temples to visit, Dudhsagar Waterfalls and spice farm visit adventures to enjoy, as also now bicycling and bird watching holidays…not for nothing is Goa considered the capital of tourism in India by many! Few perhaps know that of the 25 best beaches of India, Goa has 15 of them.

Witness the fact that many government folk too like to come holidaying to Goa and many more out of Goa natives are buying second homes in Goa, to run away from Delhi’s and Mumbai’s and Bengaluru’s big city air pollution, noise and tiresome traffic woes. Perhaps before it is too late the government of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant will realize that Goa needs to hang on to its agricultural and green forested sanctuaries, multifaceted history offering energies and synergies which can be banked on for more enduring results.

This is to say that ideas of development and progress bear fruit when walk hand in hand with conservation and preservation of environmental parameters, this is vital to maintain any good life for both the resident native population and for which so many  Indians and non-Indians come seeking for in – where else but Goa?