Aloha! How Sister State Hawaii Can Inspire Goa

In her address to the World Hindu Economic Forum in Los Angeles recently Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who represents the state of Hawaii in the US House of Representatives, said her home state and the state of Goa would soon have formal sister-state ties. 

Goa had, in April this year, given a formal approval to the proposal. "The sister-state programmes will develop relationship between the two states and will help promote tourism and will increase prospective opportunities for economic, social, cultural, educational and environmental exchanges," Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar was quoted by leading dailies as saying, soon after he signed an MoU (memorandum of understanding) in this regard.

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"We look forward to have a contingent coming to Hawaii from Goa and sending a contingent from Hawaii going to Goa to see what further opportunities there are to build more bridges between our two states and the two countries," NDTV quoted Gabbard as saying.

Here are key highlights of the American state which will be inspiring for Goa:

• Tourism is the largest contributor of private capital into Hawaii's economy. Hawaii visitors spent, on average, more than $41 million per day in 2015.

• In 2015, there was an average of 2,14,469 visitors per day in the Hawaiian Islands. On its better-than-expected performance, Hawaii will see tourism increasing 2.3 per cent in 2016.  On the other hand, a total of 52.97 lakh people visited Goa last year, official data show.

• Official data show Hawaii tourism supported 170,000 jobs in 2015, highest of any industry. Goa can learn much in this regard.  

• The state is a favourite shooting destination for Hollywood films. And the same is true of Goa too. After they are formally turned sisters, the two states can greatly benefit collaborating in this area.

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• The official site of Hawaii has marked Asia as among the major market areas for tourism promotion. While the number of visitors from the US to Goa are quite low when compared to other countries, the sister ties will give Goa an opportunity to do better.