Coming soon, a floating hotel where tourists can have lunch while sailing around Diu

Called floatel or floating hotel, the project is a public private partnership (PPP) venture of the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu and D V S Global – a private firm based out of Veraval town in Gir Somnath district.

As part of an agreement signed between the Diu Smart City Limited, D V S Global and the UT administration, D V S Global will own and operate the floating restaurant while sharing a part of revenue with the UT.

“The vessel with a restaurant on board will offer tourists rides along the coast of Diu for 30 minutes or an hour or more and serve passengers meals as they sail. The vessel has space for live music concerts and a beer bar though the private partner is yet to apply for licence for the bar,” Fwwrman Bramha, Collector of Diu, said.

To add to tourist attractions in Diu, the district which is dependent on tourism, the UT had come up with the idea of floating restaurant.

The administration had floated tenders and after selecting D V S Global through competitive bidding, had allotted it a letter of allocation in June 2021. The administration subsequently signed an agreement with D V S Global in October 2021.

“As part of the agreement, the company will make all the capital investment while sharing 11 per cent of the total revenue with the administration in the first year. Every year, the government’s share of revenue will be increased by five per cent with an upper limit of 20 per cent,” Brahma said, adding the agreement with D V S Global is primarily for 10 years, which can be extended by another five years.

The collector said the company is in the process of obtaining necessary licenses. “After getting certificate of seaworthiness of the vessel and other required clearances, the firm will start conducting trial runs of sailing along the coast of Diu. We are hopeful of everything being in place within a month,” Brahma said.

Incidentally, such services are available in Goa. Facilities for water sports like parasailing and boating among others are already available in Diu.