Panaji, Oct 8 (IANS): As eight million tourists visit Goa every year to explore beaches, religious sites, hinterlands, etc, the coastal state, while hosting the 37th National Games, is aiming to achieve its goal in sports tourism.

The 37th National Games will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 26 at 6.30 p.m. in Goa.

Though Goans are known to be football enthusiasts, beach volleyball is also gaining prominence in the coastal area. Besides, this there are many indigenous sports that are played in the tiny state.

Goa has a rich history of football games which was played by the Portuguese here, and later in 1923, the first international match in India: Britain vs Portugal was hosted by Goa.

Football legends Padma Shri Brahmanand Sankhwalkar and Arjuna awardee Bruno Coutinho have brought laurels to the state by playing at national and international levels.

According to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, along with spiritual and medical tourism, Goa will be also known for sports tourism in near future.

“We will support all the national events in the state,” he said.

There are hundreds of sports clubs in Goa that actively work for promotion of sports and encourage youth towards sports.

Sawant has expressed his vision for Goa, stating that the government aims to create a thriving sports ecosystem in the state.

“While tourists have long enjoyed our beautiful beaches, we now intend to attract sports enthusiasts from around the world. We've successfully hosted events like Ironman drawing athletes globally, and the World Table Tennis event with participants from 22 countries,” he said.

“With our state-of-the-art infrastructure developed for the National Games, we invite sports associations and national federations to utilise these facilities year-round for their events. Our goal is to take sports in Goa to new heights." Sawant said.

Before the start of National Games, Goa is set to host the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour (BPT) Goa Challenge 2023 organised by Volleyball World (VW) in collaboration with FIVB. This event will take place at Varca Beach in South Goa from October 19.

The tournament will feature 31 international teams in the qualification draw, with representation from 40 countries.

Speaking about this event, Sawant said that it is a proud moment to host this tournament. “In future we will organise such many events and give whatever support is needed for it,” he said, adding this will help to give opportunity to local sportsmen.

“After the beach volleyball event, we would be able to promote sports tourism more in Goa. Such events are necessary to promote tourism and Goa,” he said.

According to Sawant, national games will also help Goa to promote tourism of coastal state.

Sawant said that 43 sports disciplines including 5 indigenous sports – Mallakhamb, Kalaripayattu, Gatka, Lagori and yoga will be played in National games.

“Games will take place at 28 venues in Panaji, Mapusa, Margao, Colva, Vasco and Ponda. This time around 10,806 athletes will participate, in which participation of women is around 49 per cent,” Sawant said.

Sawant appealed to people to support this event to make it successful. “Arrangements will be made to broadcast the events through various platforms, so maximum people can watch it and youth gets inspiration from it,” he added.

“It is a great honour for Goans to host such a big event.Let us together be a part of it, in some or the other way and make this event a grand success.This should be a memorable event in the years to come,” he concluded.