AI
plans Arabian Nights in Goa
Sandesh Prabhudesai
10 October 2002
Arabian nights
- of a different kind - could be a reality in
Goa, if the Air India really succeeds in selling
rain drops in India during monsoons to the Middle
East countries, making Goa the gateway.
There is yet another attempt
now to attract Arab tourists during the three-month
slack period - from June to August. But it's different
this time, as the package tours would combine
several states together, on two different circuits.
A preliminary plan in this regard
was discussed here with the eight-member delegation
of tour operators from Middle East countries like
Bahrain, Qatar, UAE and Kuwait, at the initiative
of Goa-based union minister of state for civil
aviation Shripad Naik.
Landing in Goa, the package charters
could either choose the southern circuit of Karnataka
and Kerala or the northern circuit of Orissa,
Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh.
Naik plans to convene a joint meeting of all the
state tourism ministers by December to discuss
the proposals.
The Middle East tour operators in
fact expressed surprise why the peaceful and equally
beautiful places like Goa were not marketed properly
to the high-spending Gulf tourists when they regularly
visit Mumbai, either for business or to seek medical
treatment.
Though Gulf tourists are normally
fly to the USA or European countries, many of
them are now also searching for new locations,
which provide beaches, water sports, medical treatment
and amusement, observed the delegation members.
"In fact Goa is the most ideal
location for them", stated A Rehman Muftah,
the MD of Three Stars Travel Qatar. The peaceful
state with idyllic surroundings also provides
safe nightlife, music and cultural programmes
in the coastal five star hotels, he added.
Getting impressed with the natural
beauty and peace in the tiny coastal state, Nasser
M Al-Arayedh, director of Nasser Travel of Bahrain,
wondered why the state was not promoted aggressively
like Kerala.
Orchid Raikhan, the Air India manager
in Bahrain and Jordan, felt that little change
of the mindset of the Gulf tourists could easily
attract them to India. In addition, he also pointed
out that many Americans and Europeans settled
in the Middle East could also benefit from these
package tours.
If all goes well, said Raikhan,
the package tours could begin from the next monsoons,
selling rain drops in India to the rich Arabs.
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