India’s Goa state earmarks green attractions and festivals to boost tourist arrivals
- Goa has launched its ‘regenerative tourism’ campaign to attract eco-tourists to its less-explored hinterlands
- Green campaigners call for stronger environmental protection and safeguarding of communities even as the state aims to draw more tourists
Along the banks of the Zuari River in the Indian state of Goa, villagers gather to collect mud and make a crocodile sculpture in reverence of the animal deity for protecting their lands from saline water seepage.
Local authorities have launched the “regenerative tourism” initiative to showcase Goa’s less explored hinterlands and attract emerging visitor segments such as eco-tourists.
“Goa has been known for its sun and seas. People come here for the coast. We need to ensure that things start changing,” Goa tourism minister Rohan Khaunte told This Week in Asia.
“The key idea behind the initiative is to take care of not just the environment but also the ethos, culture, and tradition of Goa. We want to energise the entire tourism ecosystem not with a commercial thought but with a human touch,” he added.
