Goa is making a major push to wean itself out from relying only on sea, sun, and sand to diversifying to an entire gamut of tourism offerings. The last couple of years have been a nightmare for the entire tourism industry. Goa being the industry leader and tourism contributing to state’s economy in much larger proportion than other states or the national average, was amongst the worst affected. Nonetheless, Goa Tourism, informs Nikhil Desai, Managing Director, Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC), made the most of the time by going back to the drawing board to reevaluate its plans and strategies to rewrite the state’s tourism future and is confident that Goa tourism offerings would be far more diverse and engaging than what it used to be.
“It’s now going to be a 365-degree approach as far as Goa is concerned. We are aware that we cannot hedge our risk and put entire eggs in one basket as far as sea, sand and sun is concerned. We want to showcase the best side of Goa and Goa has a multifaceted side to it. Just that over the last three-four decades as Goa’s tourism industry boomed the focus was more on sun, sea and sand. But that is going to be a changed thing as we are going to be very clearly focused on heritage, adventure and all the other branches of tourism and we want to actively promote them. And why not, we are a very small state, just 3700 square kilometers, but we have got everything under the sun to offer to the tourists,” Desai said while speaking at a webinar recently organised jointly by PATA and BBC.
According to Desai, “A lot of time (during the pandemic) went into planning processes. Several issues had to be addressed. The formation of new Goa Tourism Board under the Chairmanship of the Chief Minister was achieved. We also had the tourism policy and the master plan that was laid out and it has very clear direction for the state of Goa that is that we are going to get towards being a sustainable, responsible and an accessible tourism destination. Now this is the statement that Goa has already embarked upon.”
“Towards that end the planning has already started in the right earnest towards achieving these objectives, in terms of better infrastructure, in terms of better safety and security in the state, in terms of making it affordable and value for money and also introducing a lot of activities in the field of heritage tourism, hinterland tourism, adventure tourism, wellness, wedding, MICE etc.”
Goa Tourism has already taken some definite step in the direction. Desai informed that Prime Minister Modi has already dedicated a new heritage tourism product, For Aguada Jail Museum, to the Goa tourism industry in December 2021 on the eve of Goa’s 60th year of liberation from the Portuguese rule. “I am sure that it will become one of the best product offerings. It was developed by financial assistance from Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme,” he informed.
He also informed that to enhance state’s MICE attractiveness, there is a new 1400 pax capacity Convention Center that is being set up and is expected to be readied by the end of the current year. The convention center is expected to give new fillip to state’s effort to boost MICE tourism segment in Goa. Furthermore, the state is also in the process of setting up a Nature Animation Park in South Goa which will be oriented towards nature-based tourism as well as heritage walking corridor which will showcase its heritage, history and culture to the visiting tourists.
Goa has recently lifted all the pandemic related restrictions except for the new normal protocols like wearing masks, social distancing etc. and as a result has begun to see a surge in tourist arrivals, particularly from the domestic market that, Desai said, is quite upbeat for Goa and tourists are fast returning to the state.
Referring to the ongoing Russia – Ukraine war, he acknowledged that the emerging geopolitics has thrown new challenges and has upset state’s inbound tourism revival plan taking a toll on charter business for Goa for the remainder of the charter season. “Charter season is looking very bleak for whatever is the remainder of the season, but I am sure all of these will be behind us and with active support and encouragement and the constant support that we receive from Ministry of Tourism, Goa will definitely bounce back as far as international tourism is concerned too,” he stressed.
