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Foreign tourist still flocking to Goa

Sandesh Prabhudesai, in Panaji

While the Indian government is working out a seven-point programme to overcome the post-September 11 setback and attract foreign tourists, Goa appears to be still getting overseas visitors as usual.

No doubt there is little setback, but figures don't reflect any major drop in tourist inflow. In fact, the WTC tragedy coincided with the beginning of the tourist season in Goa.

"There is no reason to panic till date", states Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. He has however convened a meeting on November 21 to assess the situation and work out damage control methods, if necessary.

Goa normally gets over 200,000 foreigners every year, nearly half of which are flying down in charter flights from various European countries, especially the UK.

Around 10,000 Americans also visit Goa, besides people from countries like Germany, Finland, Switzerland, Sweden, Italy, Austria and France.

It is expected that around 300,000 tourists will visit Goa this year compared to 291,000 last year. So far 419 charter flights that landed here brought an estimated 116,000 visitors from different European countries.

Compared to last year's figures (till date), Goa has received seven charter flights in October alone, bringing 1928 tourists against 2087 last year. Similarly, 20 flights have landed at Dabolim airport till November 11 with 6191 tourists, while the number last year was 6439 visitors and 24 flights.

"It proves that more charter tourists have flown down to Goa on an average than last year", points out S V Balaram, president of the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa. He however admits that a substantial drop in fare, from £ 500 to £300, is also the reason.

"We have no problem with November and even December, but do not know what will happen in January", states Ernest Dias of Sita Travels, since most of the tourists scheduled to come down in January have cancelled their bookings after September 11.

In terms of charter flights, UK's Martine Air, Britannia and Air Tour, and Germany's LTU have not operated any flights to Goa till date, but Germany's Condor flight landed in Goa on November 11, almost a decade later.

The Dabolim airport authorities also state that the drop is marginal, with 13 flights a week (Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays), compared to 19 per week last year.

However, since the equally large number of Frequent Individual Traveller and Group Individual Traveller has preferred to stay away from Goa, several hotels including star hotels have dropped their tariff.

In fact, it is for the first time in Goa that beach resorts have advertised for a special Diwali package for couples and families in the midst of the season. Such offers are normally made during monsoons, which is considered off-season.

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