Steena Joy – Mumbai
The Union Territory of Diu is in talks with the Ministry of Tourism and Gujarat Tourism to start a tourism circuit to boost tourism in the region. Speaking exclusively to Express TravelWorld, Prashant Kumar, general manager, Omnibus Industrial Development Corporation (OIDC), and chief officer, municipal council, Daman informed, “The Diu administration is in talks with both, the Ministry of Tourism and Gujarat Tourism to start a tourism circuit that will cover Diu-Somnath-Gir. Gujarat Tourism has in principle agreed. We are awaiting the MoT’s clearance for the same.”
The Diu administration has also launched a Diu Darshan bus that will cover all the important sightseeing spots in Diu like Naida Caves, Diu Fort, St Paul’s Church, Nagda Beach, etc.
Commenting on the ongoing three month long Festa de Diu, Asia’ longest beach festival which opened on December 1, 2015 and will run till February 15, 2016, Vikram Singh Malik, collector and district magistrate, Diu stated, “Yes, the response has been very good this year and we hope that with the holiday season round the corner even more tourists will make a beeline to Diu.”
Kumar added, “The festival has evoked a very good response. All our hotels are already 50 per cent full for the entire festival. We have 60 luxury tents and in only three weeks of the festival they have sold out 2000 tented nights, out of the 4200 total nights.”
He also revealed that the Diu administration is planning to organise an international food and wine festival during the Festa de Diu in January-February. “We plan to rope in those countries which have a historical connect to Diu like Portugal, Spain, etc.”
Omnibus Industrial Development Corporation is a multi-purpose organisation performing diverse activities such as promoting housing, industrial estates, tourism, liquor, branded computers and providing raw material to the industrial units in the twin Union Territories of Daman & Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. Recently OIDC has also been declared as Infrastructure Development Corporation and the administration has entrusted all the big infrastructure projects to OIDC.