Kuhelika Roy Choudhury
Goa Tourism has adopted multipronged strategy to draw more tourists to the state, informed Nikhil Desai, Director, Department of Tourism, Govt. of Goa. “With Goa’s Tourism Master Plan, we are with a notion to shift attention just from the coastal areas, and raising awareness that Goa is an all-year-round destination,” Desai said adding that Goa has Selaulim Dam which is the nature education park for the Western Ghats. “Besides, we have other products like the eco-tourism complex in Bondla, hiking and trekking spots, Dr. Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary with 423 bird species, Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary, turtle nesting sites of the olive ridley turtle, tropical spice plantations,” he added.
Desai mentioned that Goa has a plethora of upcoming major events to host during 2022-2023. One of those is the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup (from 11th to 29th of October 2022) where Goa is hosting both the semi-finals as well as countries like Morocco and Tanzania. He informed that Goa will also host the 53rd International Film Festival of India from 20th Nov to 28th Nov 2022 to target the potential of film tourism as well.
He further added that Goa is planning to host a full-fledged travel mart which is likely to happen in January 2023 and we are already planning about it. We are also setting up a digital museum at Fort Aguada Jail Museum and this is a new product that the State is offering, he said.
Desai informed that Goa is also focusing on wellness tourism about to launch a top-notch and state-of-the-art wellness center near Selaulim. “We are in the process of setting up a wellness center and eco-cottages in Anjunem-Keri, as well as a wellness center and resort in Farmagudi, Ponda Taluka,” he added.
Talking about Goa’s developmental strategy for MICE, Desai mentioned that work is in full swing to develop the Convention Centre at Rua de Ourem Creek with a 1,320-seating arrangement, open-air theatre, gazebos, etc. “The sanctioned project cost implies Rs 41.97 crore, and the proposed completion date is 2023,” he said.
Further adding to the developmental plans taken up, he said, “Goa is also coming up with Tourist Village Development Scheme with the objective to develop 12 tourist villages with pre-defined eligibility criteria of infrastructure requirements and themes. The capital grant per tourist village for the creation of necessary infrastructure is 40-45 lakhs.”
According to him, Goa is focused on developmental projects along the Goan Waters valued over Rs 230 crore under the central assistance Swadesh Darshan Scheme of the Ministry of Tourism. Additionally, other necessary infrastructures like tourist information centers, GIS Mapping, WiFi spots, Helipad, etc, with a total value of Rs 566 crores are created to ease travel for visitors.
Talking about the arrival numbers, Desai said: “Goa welcomed 80.6 Lakhs and 33.3 Lakhs tourist arrivals for 2019 and 2021 respectively. Post three covid waves, a steady growth is witnessed between March 2022 to May 2022 with over 19.4 lakh domestic and 0.3 lakh international visitors. The average length of stay in Goa is 4-9 days,” he said. Talking about plans to increase connectivity in Goa, Desai said, “Mopa, Goa’s new gateway to the world, is likely to be inaugurated by end of October, and is expected to increase the number of sectors for direct flights, connecting Goa with about 31 domestic destinations and more than 14 international destinations. As per the projections, Mopa is likely to handle 4.67 million tourists in the first year of its operations. Out of the same, it is expected to attract approx. 80,000 foreign tourist arrivals. With two airports operating in the state, there will be massive opportunities for various businesses,” he informed.
Goa is in the process of increasing taxi permits that have been sanctioned to eliminate the demand-supply mismatch. “Besides, we are in process of introducing connectivity by electric busses, we have already started operating the daily bus service from Dabolim Airport, and we are further aiming to introduce the same from MOPA International Airport connecting with major points of the state. The government is focused to adapt eco-friendly bus infrastructure and procure 500 air-conditioned electric buses that would enhance connectivity in the State in the coming days. We have also initiated works for highways connecting MOPA to the southernmost part of the state, so that driving from north to south Goa would take less than 90 minutes time, Desai added.
Goa diversifies its product portfolio to positions itself as a year-round destination
