The CII Goa Conference on Nautical Tourism was organised with an objective of displaying the benefits of nautical tourism in Goa; in terms of skill development, employment and revenue generation; and focus on development of this sector; and accordingly to submit recommendations to the Government to facilitate Ease of Doing Business.
Atul Jadhav, Chairman, CII Goa State Council in his welcome address, stated that Goa is perfectly placed to take the lead in developing nautical tourism in India as it is a premier tourist destination of the country for the last four decades. The State has a 100 kms coastline along with 6 rivers paving the way for inland waterways and development of hinterland tourism.
Speaking at the conference Shripad Naik, Union Minister of State for Tourism, Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Government of India stated that it is crucial for Goa’s economy to bring back high-end tourists as soon as possible. Since Goa opened its borders for tourism in September 2020, the State attracted 3.5 million domestic tourists, thereby driving several tourism businesses towards the path of recovery. Tourism and hospitality sectors will need to rebound to the pre-covid levels in the next two-three years and is expected to thrive subsequently. Moreover, the tourists’ adaption to the new normal, while it is difficult initially but accepted eventually, will also have strong bearing on their preferences for holidaying too. Both these factors will lead to changes in the tourism and hospitality industry – type and format of services.
J Ashok Kumar, IAS Secretary, Tourism Government of Goa stated that the notified Tourism Board that is being constituted by the Government of Goa, would be industry driven with stakeholder presence from all related sectors.
Jayant Singh, IRTS, Chairman In Charge, Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) highlighted the IWAI initiatives and stated that it was the mandate of the Inland Waterways Authority of India as a credible and viable organisation for the development of waterways not only for tourism but other related sectors.
The session on nautical tourism’s primary focus was on being mindful to the ecology and inclusive to local communities. Establishing designated infrastructure for the pleasure craft docking facilities in Goa would go a long way in protecting the ecology from haphazard and unsupervised operations of the sector along with generating revenue and employing local manpower.
