Panaji, Sep 13 (IANS) Goa hopes to ride the heritage tourism wave with the help of vintage vehicles, state Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar said on Tuesday, while announcing the state's first vintage bike and car festival organised by the Tourism Ministry.
Over 50 such vintage bikes and cars will be driven through the main streets of Panaji as part of the one-day festival on October 1, Parulekar said.
"We are planning this event which is going to be very exciting and enlightening as vintage cars and bikes from vintage car museums, those in use and those maintained for exhibitions and special occasions will all be participating in it," Parulekar said, adding that the event would be included in the Tourism Ministry's annual events calendar.
"We hope to make it a regular attraction for in-bound travellers," Parulekar said.
Vintage two-wheelers and four wheelers dating from 1921 to 1970 will be on display during the event. Cars that one would get a glimpse of at the festival include the Citroen, Austin, Morris, Cadillac, Ford, Chevrolet, Mercedes, Volkswagen and bikes like Norton, BSA and BMW.
"Vintage automobiles are another form of heritage and in Goa there are vintage car fans who are passionate about this. Through this festival we hope to kindle that hobby and motivate local Goans and others to preserve vintage vehicles so that the present generation and the future will have something to appreciate and admire," Goa Tourism Development Corporation Chairperson Nilesh Cabral said.
"This can draw tourists from domestic and international markets who have an appetite for heritage and they will surely have one more facet to engage in when in Goa," he added.
The state already has two privately run vintage car museums and a large number of vintage bike and car owners and collectors.
