July 21st, 2014: The Department of Tourism, Government of Goa has announced the appointment of a consortium of KPMG Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd. and Tourism & Leisure Advisory Services Sl. (T&L) to prepare a 25-year tourism master plan for Goa. KPMG is one of the world’s largest professional advisory services firms and is present in 155 countries. T&L is an international consulting firm specialized in the tourism and leisure sector and is headquartered in Spain.
Dilip Parulekar, Goa’s Tourism Minister, said “We are expecting best-in-class output from this consultancy assignment. The focus is to create an implementable Master Plan rather than blindly copy tourism products and strategies from other locations, which might not work in Goa. To do this, a key activity is to get inputs from all stakeholders including the general public. This will ensure that the Master Plan adequately considers the impact on the Goan economy as well as focuses on preserving the social, environmental and cultural fabric of the state”.
Nikhil Desai, Director, Tourism said “Goa Tourism is going through exciting times.
Our marketing and promotional activities are bearing fruit with significant growth being witnessed in both domestic and international tourist numbers. Our tourist product portfolio is evolving with several quality products and activities such as seaplane services and whitewater rafting being introduced. The Master Plan will set a framework for deciding which tourism products to focus on and recommend where in Goa to set them up. A key aim is to identify the ‘right type of tourist’ for Goa and develop a strategy to attract such tourists while ensuring sustainability.”
An important initial activity in the consultancy assignment is to develop a vision for tourism in Goa over the short-term (5-year), medium-term (15-year) and long-term (25-year). This includes setting clear goals on elements such as number of tourists, average days spent and expenditure per tourist, contribution to Goa’ economy, job creation and entrepreneurship opportunities for Goans, and increasing environmentally sustainable tourism. A study of Goa’ tourist carrying capacity is proposed to provide guidance while quantifying the vision elements.
The Tourism Master Plan will suggest changes to each element of the tourist value chain. This includes direct tourist products/activities such as hotels, events, car rental etc. and indirect tourist products/activities such as food suppliers, furniture, handicraft suppliers etc. The tourist value chain is critically dependent on infrastructure enablers such as water, power, waste, communication, health and safety and specific recommendations on each element will be made.
In order to select suitable tourism products/activities, prioritized criteria such as quantity of land required, seasonality, appeal of product, potential to attract new tourists, economic impact, job creation potential and compatibility with surrounding social fabric and environment will be used. The tourism product/activities will be planned at a taluka level and an anchor product and multiple similarly themed products/activities will be conceptualized for each taluka. Special emphasis will be placed on cultural, heritage, eco-tourism, hinterland, wellness, MICE, wedding and adventure tourism. The product selection will consider infrastructure availability and suggest augmentation requirements. For each identified tourism product/activity, a financing and structuring plan and financial feasibility assessment will be carried out.
The consultants will also develop a Tourism policy and institutional framework. The tourism policy will include a resource allocation framework, framework for investment in identified products and associated incentives, initiatives to ensure product quality through standards, guidelines and accreditation framework, and policies to encourage development of enabling infrastructure. While suggesting an institutional framework, the core policy, promotion, governance and oversight related activities will be identified and an analysis of functioning of the key agencies performing these roles will be performed.
The key inputs towards developing the Tourism Master Plan include an in-depth market survey of current and potential tourists, interactions with international and domestic tour operators, airlines and travel agents, Goa tourism trade interactions and general public interactions. To ensure the Tourism Master Plan does not remain on paper only, a measurable action plan is proposed to aid implementation. This includes staged product development plans, phase-wise costing and funding sources, assignment of responsibility for each key activity and an action plan for the key enablers. The Government will be forming a Committee to monitor the work and outputs of the consultancy assignment on a regular basis. The Tourism Master Plan is expected to be developed within 38 weeks from commencement. To ensure that the consultant is responsible for converting the master plan into executed tourism products/activities, they will be responsible for implementation support.
