Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte said that ‘quality tourism’ will be his focus in his new ministry. He said that non-conventional verticals like hinterland and backwater tourism would be his focus areas after the pandemic took it’s toll on the sector. “Tourism has been the main revenue churner for the state. Even in opposition, I had put forward that tourism needs a roadmap to go forward. Going through the pandemic, we need to restructure, there has to be a clear focus. We need to focus on quality tourism, rather than quantity tourism. We are rich in culture, backwaters, and we need to talk about areas we haven’t touched,” he explained.
The reforms in the industry, he pointed, can be done after amending the Tourism Act. He said that the State will work in coordination with the Centre to develop the tourism sector. He will develop a plan with the Chief Minister to discuss further.
The former IT Minister was given charge of his previous portfolio again. Khaunte said, “IT complements tourism and we will see how to best to integrate both. IT 2.0 will start now and carry the carry we started at the time of Manohar Parrikar forward with fresh ideas. We will try to make Goa a proper Knowledge Destination. Tourism & IT will see a new dawn in Goa.”