To monitor ‘social media chatter’ in real time and counter ‘adverse narratives’ about its reputation as “India’s most preferred” tourism destination, the Goa government’s tourism department has decided to rope in an agency to set up and operate a ‘Centre for Online Reputation Management’.
A concept note prepared by the tourism department states that public perception of a tourism destination, in the current digital environment, is increasingly shaped through social media platforms, online reviews, digital creators, influencers, blogs and user-generated content. Such platforms, while providing wide visibility, create reputational risks through misleading, exaggerated or negative content, “which may adversely affect the image of Goa as a tourism destination”, it said.
The tourism department says that the empanelled agency would be responsible for providing online reputation management support, including sentiment tracking, issue alerts, dashboard reporting, content escalation, response recommendations and removal of ‘harmful’ content on channels owned or controlled by Goa Tourism. The agency will set up, operate and manage a dedicated ‘Centre for Online Reputation Management’ of Goa Tourism with appropriate manpower, systems, reporting formats, escalation protocols and coordination mechanisms.
“The agency shall undertake continuous monitoring of digital platforms, social media channels, online news portals, blogs, video platforms, public forums, travel websites, review platforms, digital extensions of print/broadcast media and other relevant publicly available digital sources for mentions, discussions, complaints, criticism, misinformation, adverse narratives and emerging issues relating to Goa Tourism,” it said.
It will monitor key platforms including X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, online news portals, travel and tourism websites, blogs, review platforms, relevant public digital communities and other platforms, it said.
“The agency shall monitor publicly available digital chatter, hashtags, viral content, influencer-led content, creator videos, coordinated negative activity, misleading posts, trolling activity and other reputational risks concerning Goa Tourism,” it said.
The state has already been stung by a barrage of criticism on social media over the past two years and is fighting a perception battle to attract tourists, especially foreigners. Data shows that while there has been a steady increase in domestic tourists over the last few years, foreign tourist numbers are far from the pre-COVID mark.
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In late 2024, a social media post claiming that tourism in Goa was “down in the dumps” went viral, inviting a flurry of responses, many of which criticised the state’s tourism infrastructure. The government’s response has since been to dismiss the concerns, accusing influencers of spreading “false” narratives to malign the state and sharing data to combat the alleged “false narrative” of falling footfall.
According to the state tourism department, Goa recorded 71.27 lakh domestic and 9.37 lakh international tourists in 2019. The pandemic saw arrivals plunge to 33.08 lakh domestic and just 22,128 foreign tourists in 2021. Numbers then steadily recovered: 70.18 lakh domestic and 1.69 lakh foreign tourists in 2022, 81.75 lakh and 4.52 lakh in 2023, 99.41 lakh and 4.67 lakh in 2024, and a record 1.08 crore domestic tourists and 5.17 lakh foreign tourists in 2025.
The note detailing the objectives of the Centre for Online Reputation Management says the empanelled agency shall submit a detailed morning briefing to the department every day, containing key negative news, adverse digital mentions, emerging issues, viral content, influencer-led criticism, online complaints, misinformation, sensitive matters and reputational risks concerning Goa Tourism.
“The morning issue brief shall include, wherever applicable, the content link, platform, screenshot, date and time of publication, nature of the issue, estimated reach/engagement, sentiment classification, risk level, likely impact, recommended action and whether immediate escalation is required,” it said.
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The agency will provide real-time alerts to the authority in respect of negative, harmful, misleading, sensitive, viral, high-impact or crisis-like content relating to Goa tourism, including matters involving tourist safety, environmental controversies, misleading influencer content, coordinated negative campaigns, harmful content or allegations, the department said in the note.
The agency, it said, will prepare and maintain a comprehensive keyword bank, platform list, issue classification matrix and influencer mapping framework for monitoring matters relating to Goa Tourism.
“The keyword and issue framework shall cover tourism-linked subjects including tourist safety, hospitality experience, beaches, nightlife, taxi and transport issues, cleanliness, garbage management, tourist complaints, destination pricing, event-related feedback, environmental concerns, overcrowding, socio-cultural sensitivities and other matters affecting the image of Goa as a tourism destination.”
The agency will also develop and maintain an escalation matrix “clearly identifying the nature of issues, severity levels, reporting timelines, persons to be informed, response-support requirements and the closure mechanism,” it said.
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“The agency shall support misinformation containment and reputation defence by identifying false, misleading, exaggerated, manipulated, harmful or coordinated content relating to Goa tourism, including trolling patterns, fake posts, impersonation risks and repeated misinformation,” it added.