Thaindian News

Panaji, March 9 (IANS) With roadshows and networking meetings, Goa is trying to tap the tourism potential of NRIs from the US, especially Silicon Valley techies who visit the country regularly, an official said Wednesday.

“We want to tap the tourism potential of NRIs from the US, especially techies from Silicon Valley in San Francisco. They come annually to visit their relatives in Kerala, Bangalore, Pune, Chennai and so on,” state Chief Secretary Sanjay Srivastava told reporters here.

A state level delegation led by Tourism Minister Nilkanth Halarnkar recently toured three cities along the US west coast and is gearing up to showcase Goa as a prime holiday destination for the NRIs.

“If they (NRIs) could be encouraged to spend some of their holiday period in Goa, it would bode well for us,” said Srivastava, who was part of the delegation.

The tour included road-shows and networking meetings with trade representatives along the west coast in the cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas.

The Atlanta-based Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA), which had offered support to market Goa as a holiday destination to the expat Indian community in the US, liaised with the state delegation during the visit.

Halarnkar said after the delegation’s encouraging visit last month, the Goa government would now participate in a trade show at the world’s gambling capital Las Vegas.

“AAHOA has invited us to showcase Goa at its annual convention and trade show in mid-June at Las Vegas, Nevada. We have been offered space as an exhibitor at the event, which will be attended by a large number of NRI communities and trade visitors,” Halarnkar said.

Another pit stop for Goa tourism in this calendar year is a roadshow, planned in the city of Cerritos in California which has a sizable Indian population.

“Pat Patnaik, the Commissioner of Cerritos city who serves on the Economic Development Team of the city, has offered us a platform to showcase Goa during our next visit. Cerritos is home to one of the many ‘Little India’ locations across the US which has a high concentration of Indian residents, shops and restaurants,” state Tourism Director Swapnil Naik said.