Goa CM Pramod Sawant slams ‘influencers’ for spreading wrong message: 'Hotels are full'
Goa CM Pramod Sawant was responding to claims by certain social media influencers that the coastal state was “empty” this holiday season.
Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant has asserted that “hotels are full,” amid claims by certain social media “influencers” that the coastal state, which sees a massive influx of tourists during Christmas and New Year, was “empty” this holiday season.
A “wrong message” was being spread about Goa, Pramod Sawant claimed.
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“All the hotels here are full. Some influencers keep saying that tourists are not coming to Goa and are going to other places. They are doing the wrong thing by giving a wrong message about Goa to the people,” he told news agency ANI.
The BJP leader invited the “influencers” to visit the state's coastal sites.
Sawant said, “I also want to tell them to come and see the coastal sites themselves. Every road is full of vehicles, every beach is full. So many international tourists have come here. There is so much crowd on the road and people are being welcomed warmly.”
December, he noted, remains a “very important month” for the beach state.
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“I welcome people from across the country. December is a very important month for Goa. As always, different festivals, from international festivals to Christmas and 31st December are celebrated with great fanfare. November, December and January will be filled with tourists,” Sawant remarked.
Goa minister slams “influencers”
Meanwhile, Goa tourism minister Rohan Khaunte on Thursday accused “paid influencers” of “defaming” the state.
“…to say that tourists numbers' have fallen and there are no tourists, and they have gone to Thailand or somewhere else, then I think it is a total different way of marketing a different destination,” Khaunte said at a press conference, adding that the government would “expose” the influencers.
