How Goa deals with bad press

A tourism department appointed public relations (PR) agency is working on dispelling Goa's negative coverage in media and its undesirable projection in Bollywood films, the state legislative assembly was told Thursday.

In a written reply to a question, Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar listed organising interviews, putting out advertorial content, conducting familiarisation trips, as well as social media management as key areas in which PR agency Adfactors has been told to work on.

Some of the crises handled by the agency this year, he said, are bad publicity after the release of "Go Goa, Gone", a zombie-genre Bollywood film set in drug-addicted Goa, news stories on alcohol ban, negative stories emanating from illegal tour operations run by foreigners, and alleged manipulation of tenders.

Stories on a dance bar ban published in The Times, and a story seeking to banish British tourists and backpackers in The Guardian, have also been listed as crises managed by Adfactors.

Articles published in The Indian Express on Goa tourism growth taking a beating, as well as an article published in The Times of India on the Russian mafia crisis are also some of issues "handled" by the agency, Parulekar said.

The information tabled by Parulekar also shows that agency receives Rs.7.97 lakh as a monthly fee towards improving and maintaining Goa's image as a tourism destination.