Ignoring the strong recommendation of the state tourism apex body, Travel and Tourism Association of Goa, as regards rescheduling the date of the proposed Goa International Travel Mart 2019 (GITM 2019), Minister for Tourism Manohar ‘Babu’ Azgaonkar has instructed  department of tourism officials to go ahead with the event from October 23 to October 25, with an exorbitant budget of Rs 4.78 crore.
The DoT will be holding this event after a break of a few years at the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukerjee Stadium at Taleigao. The first two editions of the GITM were held in the years 2011 and 2014. The TTAG recommendation has been justified due to the proximity of the GITM 2019 schedule to the World Travel Market (WTM) London, which will be held from November 4 to November 6, 2019. TTAG president Savio Messias told this daily that the GITM 2019 should be held next year, with dates for the same announced much earlier, so that the international participants can plan their Goa visit, as also take care of other things like visas and so on.
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“We have already shared our concern with the government,” he added. “Presently, the most successful travel mart in India is the Kerala Travel Mart, which is held every two years,” Messias said, opining  that Goa should likewise have a travel mart, organised in a disciplined manner. A highly-placed tourism official in the government told this daily that ideally speaking, the Goa International Travel Mart should be rescheduled to next year.