Under fire from the main Opposition party, the Congress, over his US ‘junket’, during which he was accompanied by four family members, Goa Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar on Friday broke his silence over the issue, claiming that while his family members were part of the tour, the quartet had chosen to foot their own travel and stay expenses.
Ajgaonkar, who on Friday returned from his US tour, has also said that tourism promotion was necessary to promote Goa as a tourism destination abroad.
“Ajgaonkar admitted that some of his family members accompanied him but at their own expense. He slammed the opposition for unnecessarily creating controversies,” the Tourism Minister said via a statement on Friday.
Ajgaonkar has been in the firing line over the last few days, with the Congress demanding that the Tourism Minister make it clear whether he had taken along the four family members using funds from the exchequer.
Ajgaonkar has called the allegations made by the Congress as unfounded and aimed at slandering his image.
“Concerted efforts are required to be put in to bring in tourists especially from such countries where we receive less footfalls. This is not the first time that such international road shows have been organized and the Tourism department has been organizing such road shows in the past including during the time of the Congress regime,” Ajgaonkar said.
The Tourism Department has also clarified that the marketing and promotion of Goa in destinations outside India comes after taking opinions and expert advice from stakeholders in the travel and tourism industry.
“An annual calendar is prepared for marketing and promotion of events both in national and international markets which is recommended by a State level marketing and promotion committee comprising of members from various stakeholders of tourism industry,” Ajgaonkar said, explaining the protocol followed for organising outstation tourism promotion tours.