Goa is one of the most popular Tourist destinations in India. Goa attracts over 2 million tourists every year. 50 % of the tourists visiting Goa are foreigners. Students from Goa institute of Management have launched A Facebook Fan page for Goa Tourism department. This fan page aims at branding Goa as one of the tourism hotspots and attracting more tourists every year. This fan page is the brain child of Shawn Menezes, Swapnil Chodankar, Floyd Tavares and Neha Arora who are the members of GIM’s marketing club. The fan page speaks about different exciting events in Goa and also has pictures and information about beautiful beaches and places with rich cultural heritage.

The team has launched an innovative bid and win Contest app on its Facebook fan page where the fans have to place a Lowest Unique Bid for the resort mentioned on the page. The winner would win a free stay for two at the resort. In order to participate in the contest, you need to like the page. Once you become a fan, it takes you to Google form that captures your name, age, city, telephone number and email address. Your telephone number acts as your unique identity number. It then asks you to place a lowest unique bid. If two or more people bid for the same amount then it won’t be considered to be a unique bid. The contest page also shows the time remaining for the contest to close. Winners of the contest are announced on the fan page the next day. The form does not elaborate on terms and conditions of the contest. This needs to be added so that participants are aware of what are the details of the prizes and other important matters.

This unique bid and win contest has been quite a rage on Facebook. The fan page has received more than 3000 likes so far. Goa tourism’s Facebook fan page stands out in terms of its presentation and interaction. Announcement of winners is prompt. The core team has managed to enroll active participation from different resorts and spas in Goa. The team has actively been interacting with fans and creating the brand Goa.

The fan page has a warm tone and the core team posts brilliant pictures that highlight Goa’s scenic beauty. Content shared on the page is aimed at creating awareness about different events so that more and more people visit Goa and celebrate its beauty. Goa tourism department’s Facebook fan page stands out; in comparison to tourism fan pages of other Indian states.  Will the fan page be successful in pulling more tourists to Goa? Only time will tell. As for now; kudos to the brilliant initiative by Goa Institute of Management