By IANS,
Panaji: Former Goa law minister Francis D’Souza Monday said that the state government should desist from promoting foreign charter tourism and focus more on attracting domestic tourists to the state.
“I agree we see a lot of foreign charter tourists coming to Goa. But they do not spend much money. It is the domestic tourists who are the generous spenders when they come visiting,” D’Souza, deputy leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state assembly, said.
He was speaking in the assembly.
In 2008, Goa saw nearly 1.7 lakh charter tourists visiting the state. Britain and Russia were the top contributors. While 94,379 charter tourists came from Britain, nearly 44,549 tourists were from Russia.
“Goa should be promoted as a family destination and not a drug destination or a casino destination as it is being projected now,” D’Souza said, referring to the increasing number of offshore casinos in the state.
He added that the government is spending Rs.15 crore for advertising campaign, while it has earmarked a mere Rs.4 crore for developing tourist infrastructure.