PANAJI
As the flagship EDM festival Sunburn moves out of its traditional location Goa, the State government is now focusing on promoting the coastal State as a “concert tourism hub” by developing plug-and-play facility.
During the State Tourism Ministers’ meet held in Rajasthan, the Goa Tourism Department announced that a mega performance arena in Mandrem, with a 20,000-seat capacity, will be developed as a multi-use venue to host large-scale international concerts, conventions, cultural shows, and entertainment events.
Addressing a press conference on Friday, Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte, citing the success of high-profile concerts such as Coldplay’s show held in Ahmedabad, said that the concert economy is a new economy that is finding its growth in India.
“We saw the success of Coldplay in Ahmedabad. Concert economy is fastest growing and we would like to promote Goa as a concert tourism hub. On similar lines, we are looking forward, with Centre’s support, to develop a plug-and-play facility in the State, especially along the coastal belt. State will also develop a multi-use venue to host large-scale international concerts, conventions, cultural shows, weddings and entertainment events,” Khaunte said.
“The move is to ensure that our tourism is not restricted just to sun, sand and sea. Concert is an emerging sector and we need to tap it,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Minister announced a crackdown on hotels that have opted for incorrect categorization to avail themselves of facilities such as deemed renewals. Khaunte explained that the government has introduced deemed approvals for C and D category hotels if the department fails to renew their applications within seven days, despite all documentation being in place.
“Many B category hotels that include luxury villas, have registered themselves under C category and this was brought to our notice. We have started a verification drive and accordingly 15-16 hotels have been issued notices,” he said directing industries to put things in place.
He said that under the C category, the total number of hotels as of last month was 9,166, up from 3,647 registered in 2022.
