By Mayabhushan Nagvenkar, IANS,
Panaji : Goa might just give its beaches a small break and ride on adventure to promote tourism in the state, an official said.
After banking for years on Goa’s prowess as a beach tourism destination and a failed attempt to promote tourism in the hinterland, the state’s tourism department has now turned to adventure sports like hang-gliding, whitewater rafting and hot air ballooning to attract tourists.
“Adventure tourism is an emerging trend across the country. We are trying it to diversify our tourism portfolio,” Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar told IANS.
Five months ago, the Goa government kickstarted a whitewater rafting programme in Sattari, a remote area crisscrossed with rivers and streams in the heart of the Western Ghats, about 60 km from Panaji.
According to Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC), a private enterprise specialising in whitewater rafting set up the facility.
“The government has opened an area (adventure sports) to create a new avenue for tourism. It is entirely managed by a private entity, which has the expertise to conduct whitewater rafting,” GTDC Chairman Nilesh Cabral said.
Southern River Adventures and Sports Private Limited, a facility in the state operated by John Pollard of Britain, saw a good response within months of opening in late June.
“I am a regular visitor at Dandeli (in Karnataka) for whitewater rafting. But I was in Goa on a holiday at Calangute and this seemed to be the best way to break the sun and sand monotony,” Ramesh Naidu, a software professional based in Bangalore, said.
According to Parulekar, the whitewater rafting experiment could just be the beginning of a new trend in Goa.
“We are now considering other adventure sports as well, such as hotair ballooning and setting up a hang-glider base,” Parulekar said.
For instance, a ride in a hot air balloon would provide a birds-eye view of the historic old Goa church complex, the beautiful Panaji city, a riverside settlement with a Latin quarter and some of the north Goa’s popular beach stretches.
“The hang glider base could be in Sattari where there are adequate spots for landing and taking-off,” Parulekar said.
He added that the project would be undertaken on the private-public partnership (PPP) model.
An adventure tourism expert would be given the mandate to conduct the tours, while the government would provide only the logistical support. “We are not going to be spending anything,” Parulekar said.
Goa attracts over 26 million tourists annually to its sandy and sunny beaches.
(Mayabhushan Nagvenkar can be contacted at [email protected])