CII brings together a council of interested stakeholders
Steena Joy – Diu
After years of living in the shadow of its more famous counterpart Daman, the Union Territory of Diu is finally coming into its own. Close on the heels of its Isle of Calm branding on television which has created a buzz in the industry, Diu Tourism with Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) support recently invited a tourism council of 17 stakeholders to visit the UT and see first hand what it has to offer as a tourism destination and the investment opportunities arising from it. The delegates included ITC Hotels, The Oberoi Group, CGH Earth, Club Mahindra, MakeMyTrip, Cox & Kings, Uniglobe Travels, Jet Airways, Air India, among others.
Speaking exclusively to Express TravelWorld, Ashish Kundra, IAS, administrator of Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli (DNH) said, “Daman developed more as an industrial centre but we are very clear in that we want to develop Diu as a retreat kind of a destination where visitors will come for calm and natural beauty. Ilha de Calma – Portuguese for Isle of Calm – is how we are positioning Diu.”
Sandeep Kumar, IAS, development commissioner, Daman & Diu and DNH informed, “We are looking for tourism partners for investment in hotels, catamaran services, adventure sports, entertainment, luxury tents, etc. We are planning a five star hotel at Kevdi and a three star hotel which will be built by Omnibus Industrial Development Corporation (OIDC), a multi-purpose organisation performing diverse activities such as promoting housing, industrial estates, tourism, liquor, etc, in the twin UTs of Daman & Diu and DNH. We are also planning luxury tented accommodation on certain beaches. Another interesting project is India’s first oceanarium which will be built on 35 acres in consultation with the National Institute of Oceanography in Chennai. We hope this will draw large tourist numbers to the destination.”
Vinod Kavle, IAS, tourism secretary, added, “A Light and Sound show in the Diu Fort is expected to start in February next year. We are also planning a convention centre to attract the MICE segment.”
Kumar stated, “ Our main constraints are awareness about the destination and connectivity. Jet Airways operates a single ATR flight daily that goes to Porbandar via Diu, which is why we are now planning to start catamaran services between Mumbai and Diu. The services are scheduled to start in the coming tourist season in October.” The MoU for the project has already been signed with the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) three months ago. SCI will soon float the tenders for the operations. The procurement of the vessel will be done by SCI. The catamaran will have a load capacity of 150 passengers. The total project cost is estimated at Rs 60 to Rs 70 crore.