Apart from promoting local festivals such as Carnival, Shigmo and Goa Heritage Festival, the state is also hard selling itself as a wedding destination.
"We are looking the tourist arrivals to reach up to 40 lakh this year, a growth of 15 per cent from 2013. During last year Goa had 31.50 lakh arrivals," Goa Tourism Development Corporation Managing Director Nikhil Desai told PTI.
This will be achieved by initiatives undertaken and planned by the Goa Tourism and also due to the decennial exposition of the holy relics of St Francis Xavier from November 22, 2014 to January 4, 2015, he added.
With an aim to promote Goa as a year round destination he said efforts are being made to further popularise the state's local festivals in the rest of the country.
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"Goa also has a number of festivals such as Carnival, Shigmo, Goa Heritage Festival, Sao Joao, Flag Festival and wine festival 'Grape Escapade' among others which are popular with tourists," Desai said.
For weddings, Goa Tourism has launched Destination One, an
integrated hospitality establishment concept to provide exclusive and personalised services for wedding segment, he added.
Tourism provides 18 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP) of Goa, he added.