‘Dil Chahta Hai’ saved Goa tourism post 9/11 gloom

Panaji: Bollywood blockbuster ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ bailed out Goa tourism after the 9/11 terror attacks in New York, a tourism official said Friday.

The Chairman of the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) Ralph de Souza said at the International Travel Mart (ITM) Goa that the joint promotion of Goa with ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ helped the tourism industry reap in profits, particularly at a time when prospects of the industry were bleak following the terror attacks. The official spokesperson for the tourism and travel industry in the state was speaking during a panel discussion on private public partnership in tourism. "We invested Rs.3 crore in the `Dil Chahta Hai` campaign by promoting the film`s first release on a popular television channel. It was a tremendous hit. We roped in early nearly Rs.30 crore profit," he said. Largely shot in Goa, the Aamir Khan starrer is seen as a cult film, which tracks down the story of three friends. IANS