Tag Archives: Nikhil Desai

Nikhil Desai, MD, GTDC, has said that a 1400 seat convention centre is being built in the capital city of Panjim. “That will take care of the medium sized conventions, both domestic and international. Apart from that we have plans to have a 5000 seater convention and expo centre right in Dona Paula, which is on the outskirts of Panaji City, with all facilities like hotels, parking and entertainments features.”

Nikhil Desai, Managing Director, Goa Tourism Development Corporation, has revealed that the upcoming MOPA international airport in Goa is likely to attract 4.67 million tourists in the first year of its operations. “It will connect about 31 domestic destinations and more than 14 international destinations.

Nikhil Desai, Managing Director, Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC), has said that a new convention centre is being opened by the end of year to boost MICE Tourism in the state of Goa. MICE will be one of the products that will be in focus of their strategy, he revealed. He said that they are working towards repositioning Goa apart from sun, sand and sea. “While Goa is synonymous with sun, sand and sea, we are trying to attract the attention of tourists to various other offerings in Goa including wildlife, nature, MICE, etc.” he added. He also informed that they are seeing a huge rise in social events in the last one year at a number of properties across Goa.

Nikhil Desai, Managing Director, Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC), has said that they are working towards repositioning Goa apart from sun, sand and sea. “While Goa is synonymous with sun, sand and sea, we are trying to attract the attention of tourists to various other offerings in Goa including wildlife, nature, MICE, etc.” he said. He also informed that they are seeing a huge rise in social events in the last one year at a number of properties across Goa. 

Government of Goa has constituted a 19-member tourism board and has dissolved three panels called the state-level promotion and marketing committee, the high-powered monitoring committee, and the state-level permission committee. Hence, all decisions pertaining to tourism in the state will be taken by this committee. Confirming the news, Nikhil Desai, MD, GTDC, has said that they have already been taking care of infrastructure, development and hotels under GTDC. The marketing had been taken care of by Goa Tourism, and will now be under the purview of the committee.

M!CEtalk Digital Conclave, powered by Cvent India, on rebooting Indian MICE landscape will be held on 25th August, 2021 at 11am IST. The panelists include Nikhil Desai, MD, Goa Tourism Development Corporation; Sabbas Joseph, Founder-Director at Wizcraft International Entertainment; Rajdev Bhattacharya, Global Head (Travel and Hospitality ) & Business Head, WAY2GO and GM, Global Travel Services- WIPRO Limited; Arif Patel, Regional VP, Sales & Marketing, Hyatt India; and Sandeep Nagpal, VP & Head of Marketing, Cvent India. To register write to jaspreet, kaur@ddppl.com or call +91 96501 96532.

Beach shacks in Goa are likely to start opening from November, according to Nikhil Desai, Managing Director, Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC). “Shack allotment process across the state is already underway and we are expecting them to open in November,” he said. According to reports, the GTDC earlier this week started demarcating Goa’s north coastal belt which includes Candolim, Calangute and, Anjuna. It is believed that the demarcation process in South Goa will happen after that.

Goa Tourism will be focusing on improving their infrastructure as they wait for things to come back to normal, reveals Nikhil Desai, MD, Goa Tourism Development Corporation. “In the coming year, we will focus on domestic market and further consolidate our presence in weddings, M!CE, adventure and leisure tourism. We are also using this time to ramp up our tourism infrastructure to world-class standards and focusing on introduction of new services and products. We are also focusing on completion of Swadesh Darshan projects sanctioned by the MOT. We are looking forward for sanction of financial assistance by MOT for development of UNESCO World Heritage site at old goa under PRASHAD scheme. We are also undertaking work for development of hinterland circuit in North Goa under Swadesh Darshan scheme. So, while we wait for things to come back to normal, we have doubled our efforts on improving the tourism infrastructure,” he said.

Goa might open for tourism after the lockdown gets over on May 17, it was revealed by Pramod Sawant, Chief Minister, Goa, has said that they will welcome tourists, provided the Central Government allows it. Speaking on the same, Nikhil Desai, Managing Director, Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) said, “Just like all the stakeholders, Goa Tourism is also eagerly awaiting normalisation of the current situation. The current priority is to fight COVID 19, However economic livelihood of the people is also extremely important. For a state like Goa, which depends overwhelmingly on tourism, it’s important that situation normalises at the earliest. We are looking forward to early commencement of tourism season.” However, when asked if it would be the first state to bounce back after lockdown, especially with no reported case of COVID-19, Desai, said, “Unfortunately, until and unless the situation in rest of the country stabilises and comes back to normal, Goa alone being COVID free cannot do much. After all we are banking heavily on domestic tourism to see us through this current season. All will depend on how fast the flights and rail connectivity returns to normal and only then we can expect a sizeable flow into Goa.

To make Goa the number one adventure hub in the country, Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) is offering several adventure sports such as river rafting, scuba diving, parasailing, paragliding, and hot air ballooning. Nikhil Desai, MD, GTDC, shares, “We have introduced India’s second highest bungee jumping facility at Mayem Lake and have tied up with reputed private operators to ensure safety.” A full-fledged family theme park is also in the offing here. Desai also adds, “In addition, we are introducing several new tourism facilities like an underwater submarine, giant wheels, and bike tourism circuits that would allow tourists to hire bikes and go to nearby places like Hampi. A hanging restaurant, which would go up to 100 metres in the sky, is also in the offing, and would allow people to get a great view of Goa while enjoying their food.”