Goa pins hopes on nostalgic Portuguese-era buses to boost tourism

In a bid to boost tourist footfalls, tourism authorities in Goa are keen to use 'camaios', typically large, spacious buses used during the Portuguese era for public transport, for sight-seeing tours, an official said on Thursday.

The proposal to buy new buses and fabricate them as camiaos, which would then be used to conduct sight-seeing tours for tourists was taken at a meeting of the Goa Tourism Development Corporation Board here.

"The GTDC has also proposed to buy new buses which would be later designed as camiaos for conducting sightseeing tours," the official said.A

Manufactured by Dodge or Chevrolet, the camaios were a popular mode of transport in Portuguese-ruled Goa until the 1960s and are nostalgic image of the colonial era.

The Board also resolved to build a convention centre in south Goa to facilitate large-scale weddings and develop jetties along the state's rivers to promote hinterland tourism.

One of the top beach and nightlife tourism destinations across the country, Goa attracts more than four million tourists every year, which includes half a million foreign tourists.

--IANS

maya/vd