GA-CHINESE-TOURISTS

Goa wooing Chinese tourists to revive foreign tourist inflow
    Panaji, Jan 8 (PTI) In a bid to shore up the falling
tourism potential, stake-holders in Goa tourism are looking at
China to tide over the slump in arrival of foreign tourists.
    A six-member delegation from China is scheduled to
arrive here later this week to prepare content and guide the
Goa tourism department and stake-holders on how to promote the
coastal state in Chinese markets, which is a virgin territory
for the state's tourism industry.
    Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) president
Savio Messias on Wednesday 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.
    Messias said that China offers a lot of potential for
Goa markets.
    "Chinese usually go around in huge groups and when
they come to India, their visit is restricted to places like
Agra in North India or Kerala in the South," he said.
    The TTAG chief, who had participated in a Travel Mart
at Chengdu city in China, said many Chinese are unaware about
Goa.
    "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. PTI RPS AP
NSK NSK

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)