India

Goa restructures the committee on tourism plan

The government of Goa has re-formed the committee to evaluate the progress of the works on preparation of a master plan and tourism policy for the state. The work has been assigned to the renowned consultants, M/s. KPMG Advisory Services Private Limited of Spain.

The 12 member committee will be headed by the Tourism Secretary, with association of the Additional Secretary of Finance. The committee will also have the Managing Director of Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC), Member Secretary of Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA), the President of Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry etc.

The objective of the committee to evaluate the progress of the works and approve each modules as per the scope of works assigned to the consultants. The committee can make recommendations and suggestions, if applicable, to the government regarding the functioning of the consultant.

Earlier in the first week of August, Manohar Azgaonkar, the Tourism minister, while talking in the Assembly, has announced the formulation of a Tourism master plan and policy, with the purpose of setting up a tourism board, which would be ready in next three to four months.

The minister also said on the occasion that the government would take cognizance of the new draft CRZ (Coastal Regulations Zone) notification 2018 issued by Union Ministry for Environment and Forest while finalizing the Tourism Master Plan. He said the draft CRZ notification was still under examination and hence the changes that would likely to take place due to its implementation could not be stated at that stage.

While narrating the features of the master plan, Azgonkar told the House that as per the agreement, the scope of work of the Consultant has been divided into two phases, Phase-1 is planning phase and phase-2 is program management phase. Further the Phase I is divided into 6 modules.

Module 1 consists of Current and projected tourism scenario and understanding key gaps, Module 2 focuses on developing tourism concepts to attract tourist, Module 3 is about Development of Tourism Master, Development of Tourism Policy comes under Module 4, Module 5 is to Review and recommend measures for strengthening institutional and economic linkages and Module 6 is the Development of Action Plan to implement the previous modules.

Under Phase II, the Consultant would provide Project Management Support to Department of Tourism for a period of 5 years to implement the Modules in an effective and planned manner