Goa expects a flood of tourists

Last year, Goa had a 55 per cent growth in tourist inflow during monsoon and it expects to improve on the figures this year. The Goa Tourism department is upbeat about this. The Tourism department has published this surge of tourists in 2016 between June and September - this period used to be known as lean season by the industry. However, aggressive marketing and promotion, has changed the picture.
This has been reported in thestatesman.com dated 28 June 2017.

Goa is known the world over as a beach destination because of its 105-kilometre-long beach which attracts lakhs of visitors, both domestic and foreign. The growth in monsoon tourism has got a boost because hotels offer special packages and the number of monsoon activities have also increased. Goa Tourism Development Corporation has introduced activities like trekking, white water rafting, monsoon festivals, special monsoon cuisine, trips to picturesque locales, biking, waterfall visits and others to woo visitors.
The introduction of new train services like Tejas and the Maharajah Express are also helping to bring in more tourists from neighboring states. A recent survey by a website has declared Goa as India's most popular monsoon travel destination among Indian travelers for 2017.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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Select elephants in Mysore being prepared for the Dasara festivities

Dasara celebrations in Mysuru is an affair where elephants descend in the procession - and they are decked up in all its finery. In order to ensure that these elephants are fit in all respects,they have been put on a special diet so that they can gain up to 500-Kg before the great occasion.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 19 September 2016.

It is expected that they will gain 500-Kg before the festivities begin on October 1.
The 12 specially picked Dasara elephants in Mysuru have been put on a special protein-rich diet. This includes pulses, cereals and onions and the animals are expected to gain 200-500-Kg in a month. They are fed food, rich in carbohydrates before and after rehearsals in the morning and afternoon.
The diet for each elephant comes to Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 daily and the total expenditure incurred would be of the order of Rs 20 lakh.
As explained by a veterinarian, the animals have to gain weight so that they can withstand the six-hour Dasara procession and those involved in carrying extra load have to do special exercises.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


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