14/08/2014 …. Goa Tourism conducted the ‘#GoaInstawalk 2.0’ in association with WelcomHeritage Hotels on 9th & 10th August, 2014. This instawalk covered places like Mahadev Temple at Tambdi Surla, Harvalem waterfalls & Fontainhas. The main idea behind #GoaInstawalk was to turn the online conversations about Goa into something more experiential.
This 360 degree digital campaign with an on ground activation in the form of instawalks are being conducted by Goa Tourism in order to engage better with the online audience on a personal level as well as to give them a firsthand experience of Goa’s cultural, architectural and environmental significance.
The #GoaInstawalk 2.0 had a total of 42 local as well as domestic and international participants during the two day activity. Participants have been identified from key markets – Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Goa, Germany and Canada. The #GoaInstawalk as a property has till date culminated into 500+ images of Goa across social media and counting.
Goa Tourism provided a bus tour for the participants from Miramar Residency to visit Tambdi Surla’s 12th century Mahadev Temple on Day 1 where participants experienced the beauty of the black basalt temple with all its ancient carvings and symbols amidst a green forest and a pristine stream flowing below. All the participants were then taken to Harvalem water falls to experience the gusto and force of the waterfall during monsoons.
Shiv Kumar Mishra, a photography enthusiast and a participant from Goa said, “It’s a nice initiative by Goa Tourism to inspire people to look into the history of Goa as well as venturing into nature’s cradle as not many people have come here. It is an eye opener for many people as 90% people who have come for the insta walk are first timers.”
Day 2 of the walk in Fontainhas was hosted by Jack Ajit Sukhija, partner at WelcomHeritage’s Panjim Inn located at Fontainhas. The walk commenced with Jack taking the participants around the charming alleys and boulevard of Fontainhas. He then described the significance and history behind the Portuguese structures, heritage and monuments in Fontainhas.
Jack Sukhija said, “Goa Tourism in the last few years has been very proactive in looking at other aspects of the Goan history, and under the present director Nikhil Desai, there is a conscious move to upgrade Goa as a tourist destination and these interactive tours, walking tours are a great way to do it as new social technologies like Twitter and Instagram create a lot of buzz. It’s a very good initiative by Goa Tourism overall.”
“#GoaInstawalk is the beginning of a new chapter as far as Goa Tourism is concerned where we seek to connect with the younger audiences and capture various beautiful assets about Goa through the eye of the lens and hoping to populate the world wide web with these beautiful imageries about Goa and inspire more genre of travelers looking forward to visit the state” said Nikhil Desai, Managing Director, Goa Tourism Development Corporation about the #GoaInstawalk initiative.
