Goa moots monsoon tourist plan for Arabs

Sandesh Prabhudesai in Panaji

Goa has a tourist plan for Arabs wishing to enjoy the Indian monsoons between June and September, by evolving a special package of charters flights.

Deputy Chief Minister Wilfred de Souza, who recently returned from his tour of the eastern province of Saudi Arabia, said several travel agents had expressed their desire to start charter flights to Goa.

Dr de Souza said the rains would be a welcome respite for Arabs and expatriates sweltering in the Gulf heat. This is also the time schools there are on holiday and families are travelling abroad.

Such packages will also help the local tourism industry since business is usually slack during the rains. Hardly seven per cent of the 237,000 foreign tourists who visit Goa come during the monsoons.

Goa receives most of its charters from European countries, with 60 per cent of them coming from the UK. Local travel agents are also trying to attract more tourists from north European nations like Holland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

Travel agents in Kuwait, Dubai and Bahrain are planning to visit Goa next month to work out the modalities. "We'll make all the arrangements for their accommodation," said Goa Tourism Director U D Kamat.

Dr de Souza himself is planning to meet Union Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Chand Mahal Ibrahim with a proposal to start charters from the Gulf countries. He is trying to get at least a few charters cleared before the monsoons end.

An indoor amusement park, with music, games and even yoga and meditation classes, is on the cards, says Dr de Souza, all of which may be ready by next year. He admits an earlier attempt to tout Goa as a monsoon tourist destination failed miserably. But he put it down to the inefficient manner Goan tourism was promoted by the Centre. This time, he promises, things will be different.