GOA

• SUSTAINABLE TOURISM PLAN

SUMMARY‘The Coolest Place in India’ ‘Now our road takes us to the magnificent kingdom of Goa…The people of this kingdom are strong, prudent and very

hardworking… The kingdom of Goa is the most important in India…It is civilized, having famous orchards and water. It is the coolest place in India and it is the most plentiful in foodstuffs.

‘The white people make a practice of going to the kingdom of Goa to enjoy the shade and the groves of trees and to savour

the sweet betel.’ These revealing remarks on Goa come not from the hippies or ‘flower power’ generation of the sixties and early seventies

who thronged the beaches of Anjuna, Vagator and Arambol in search of salvation and ‘peace’. These remarks were made over five centuries ago by the Portuguese Ambassador to China who visited Goa around the year 1511. They serve as a vivid precursor to the generations that followed in our times to the fabled land of Goa.

In those tumultuous and rebellious times in the sixties, it was then not the ‘sweet betel’ that was the prime attraction but a

different kind of ‘weed’. But Goa, since those days of the angry generation, has moved on to attract a multitudinous, peaceful and cosmopolitan school of visitors from all around the globe.

SUMMARYDown the corridors of time Goa has been different things to different people. To the Portuguese conquerors it was ‘Golden Goa’,

the El Dorado, the ‘Rome of the East’. Such was its beauty and grandeur, that a traveller was moved to remark: ‘Whoever has seen Goa, need not visit Lisboa’—Lisbon, which was then the grand epicenter of the Portuguese dominions.

. Some decades later, the early 17th century French traveller Francois Pyrard wrote: ‘Whoever has been in Goa may say that he

has seen the choicest rarities of India, for it is the most famous and celebrated city, on account of its commercial intercourse with people of all nationalities of the East who bring there the products of their respective countries, articles of merchandize, necessaries of life and other commodities in great abundance because every year more than a thousand ships touch there laden with cargo.’

Pyrard continued with near prophetic veracity: ‘…as for the multitude of people, it is a marvel to see the number which come

and go every day by sea and land on business of every kind…One would say that a fair was being held every day for the sale of all sorts of merchandise.’

While the contemporary traveller may not come to modern, thriving Goa ‘for the sale of all sorts of merchandise’, the ‘fair’ is still

very much on. The traveller is here to find something different: a balm on the busy mind, to enjoy days of freedom on Goa’s

SUMMARYmagnificent beaches, to parasail or swim with the tide of fellow visitors from all around the globe, to savour its unique cuisine and imbibe its spirits,

to take a long and invigorating trek in its unexplored interiors, to marvel at its majestic temples and churches, in short, to be at one with the most friendly people in the country.

In the sixties and seventies, it was, as we have remarked, a haven for the hippies. Since then Goa has moved on to fullfledged Statehood, its own

Council of Ministers, a magnificent new Assembly complex, its citizens among the most literate in the country with a per capita income the highest in the land.. At the hub of this prosperity, is the Tourism industry. At the Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC), we take a humble bow in acknowledgement, in some small measure, of putting Goa on the tourist map of our country.

But we also acknowledge that Goa does not require a massive sales drive. Goa is a multifaceted jewel in the crown of India. It is a frame of mind and body, spirit and soul. Goa is an unfading memory. It is joy and nirvana. Goa is India’s smallest State---with the largest heart. Goa is Forever.

IMAGE OF GOA

• BEACH• PARTY

BUT

GOA HAS A LOT MORE TO OFFER

OUR OBJECTIVE

SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths

• The strength of any tourism destination is the quality of resources that it possesses. Goa has been in fact blessed with a number of such resources. Some of these are:

• A long stretch of coastline which is ecologically and scenically beautiful.• Excellent landscape in the hinterlands with the Western Ghats and the

rivers.• Warm and hospitable nature of the local population.• Good climate throughout the year.• High levels of literacy of the local population. • Peace loving nature of the people• Rich flora and fauna together with rich cultural heritage.• Fairly good accessibility.• Industry status to tourism.

SWOT ANALYSIS Weakness• Goa as a tourism destination is also encumbered with

weaknesses which need to be addressed. Some of the weaknesses are:

• Lack of a comprehensive tourism policy.• Lack of cohesiveness amongst the players in the industry

when it comes to marketing Goa.• Lack of internal marketing of tourism to the local residents.• Lack of infrastructure.• Lack of proper coordination between the agencies for

tourism development.

SWOT ANALYSIS Opportunities

• Goa also has a substantive level of opportunities in the global tourism industry. Some of those are:

• • Movement form beach tourism to heritage tourism as a larger part of the international and domestic tourists are more knowledge tourists who like to experience the cultures of the destination they visit. In fact, museum visitation worldwide has increased due to the desire to know the past.

• • The resources available to Goa can enable it to bring about a high level of activity-based tourism such as adventure tourism, events tourism, entertainment tourism, nature tourism and eco-tourism.

• • Goa is a favourite destination for makers of Hindi movies. Many such movies have been shot on locales in Goa. This market can be further explored to see that proper facilities are made available to encourage this activity.

• • Most organisations tend to have their business conventions in Goa. Most dealers’ meets are held in Goa as it provides them the best mixture of business and pleasure. Given that many corporate bodies lookout for this kind of opportunity, the Goan government should think of moving in this direction in terms of creating adequate facilities such as a convention centre to cash in on the opportunity.

SWOT ANALYSIS Threats• One of the most important threats to Goa comes out of its own weakness. The lack

of adequate infrastructure and lack of comprehensive long term tourism policy coupled with lack of strong implementation of existing policies create a situation of resource abuse leading to diminished visitor experience. Some of the threats are:

• • Competing destinations like Kerala and Maharashtra for beach tourism (within the country).

• • There exists the social evil of gambling, drug trafficking, prostitution, paedophilia and corruption which create a negative image of the destination. Inability to contain this is also a weakness but this threat to the tourism industry due to these activities cannot be ignored.

• • Another threat that stems from lack of long term policy on tourism is the destination getting an image of a cheap destination in the international market. Due to this image the earning potential of the industry is severely crippled though there is enough scope to promote Goa as a high spending tourist market. Creating the necessary resources for the high quality image is not seen in Goa and this could spell doom for the industry in future

MOUNTAIN TOURISM

HERITAGE AND CULTURAL TOURISM

• GOA STREET• Traditional food• Handicrafts• Textiles• Mats• Furniture• Cottage industry works• Hand crafted jewelry• Spices and herbs• Artifacts• Souvenirs

Water resource tourism

• Windsurfing• Scuba Diving• Water Skiing• Angling• Swimming• Backwater boating• River cruise• Crocodile shows

Suggestions 1

• There need is to develop on a priority basis infrastructure to enable more through-put of people: airport

with integrated rail, sea and road links; corridor of tourism and entertainment areas with pedestrian

plazas and entertainment events; event and convention infrastructure.

• Creating annual event calendar for activities in Goa by developing an online portal for event details to be

posted by registered event groups well in advance. And also the company can register themselves in all

the events organized (eg Iffi, International convention, etc. ) and can even provide services in terms of

guest keeping. This will also help in attracting the standard quality people in the state which is a sign of

development.

• Development of infrastructure better signage and shuttle services between places of common attraction

can help boost up the tourist perception about Goa. And can also help in creating more Buzz about the

place.

Suggestions 2

• According to the survey majority of the people rated an average on something new to offer every time as a

tourist destination. Which tells us that the expectations of people are increasing and the state is not able to

meet them in terms of infrastructure. The Company can look into felid of different creating new destination

points catering the tourists. Life for example Lumbini Park in Hyderabad. `

• The other major suggestion is that of the PROMOTION of the state tourism. The company since is under

advertising can even come up with an advertising campaign to promote tourism in Goa. This will be a large

scale sector where the advertisement should be made on a large scale with the help of Government of Goa.

Creating campaigns like of Incredible Kashmir, Incredible Gujarat which promoted tourism in the respective

state. Having a brand ambassador like Mr. Amitabh Bachchan and using his skills as a promotional model to

reach out to the people through media will really boost up the tourist. The advertising should cover up all

the things in right from the nature, tranquility, service and GOA.

INTERNATIONAL MARKETINGPromoting our Product

BUZZ MARKETING:

This strategy would be initiated first in order to create a hype for the offering: Using blogs as an effective tool

to creating and generating hype

• Use Facebook pages with ‘like’ option.

• Use twitter to advertise effectively.

• Also on sites like Gmail and yahoo mail, put up small advertisement with key words like, India’s one and only, first, biggest,

most entertaining, etc.

• Redirecting the page on Facebook to a personal website of the city that will give the necessary required information at that

pint of time.

• Start a mini game on the website on the basis of “build your city”.

• Using print media to garner attention.

• By advertising on international magazines like the economist, Forbes etc.

• Displaying huge posters at airports and advertisement in print in magazines given in the airlines..

INTERNATIONAL MARKETINGPromoting our Product

Use extensive marketing at Goa Airports:Put up large posters and banners.Distribute pamphlets in airlines, especially international.Tie up with few airlines to advertise on baggage tags also.

Advertising on travel management sites as we would concentrate more on tourists and target segment.

Advertise and broadcast the documentaries of India’s first entertainment city being built at the building and designing stage so that the news is out in a formal setup and with international coverage.

Remove applications for mobile phones such as:Build your city.Enterprise manager.Advertise through he gameplay of these applications on all mobile platforms.Put up teaser video of entertainment city coming soon to Goa.

use news media to create hype about the entity but not let out any additional details about the same.

EMPLOYMENT

• Life Guards at all water sport locations will be Goans.

• At our resorts most of the staff will be locals.• All the guides we will be hiring would be

Goans.• All the taxi drivers who we will hiring would

be Goans.

EMPLOYMENT

• Encourage local artisans to work on handicrafts and sell them to Goa Tourism Department.

• All trainers for adventure sports would be Goans.

• We will also hire locals for traditional shows in rural areas.