PANAJI
In news that will bring a smile to Goa's tourism captains and hundreds involved in the industry, decks have been cleared by the Centre for charter flight operations from October 15.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Thursday said it will begin issuing fresh tourist visas to foreigners coming to India through chartered flights with effect from October 15, 2021.
However, visitors coming into India by non-charter flights on fresh tourist visas will have to wait a month longer as the MHA said it will begin issuing fresh visas to them only from November 15.
“Foreign tourists entering into India by flights other than chartered aircraft would be able to do so only with effect from November 15, 2021 on fresh Tourist Visas,” the statement released by the MHA said.
Visitors and the carriers have been warned though that the onus is on them to ensure all protocols and norms relating to Covid-19 as notified by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare from time to time are adhered to at the landing stations.
When the pandemic hit last year in March, the Centre had suspended all visas granted to foreigners but as the situation evolved and some commercial flights including air bubble flights were resumed, foreigners were permitted to enter the country on any Indian visa other than 'tourist visa'.
With Thursday's announcement on fresh visas for charter tourists, Goa's tourism sector will get the much needed boost.
Goa's tourism industry captains and smaller entrepreneurs have been reeling under the pandemic's financial backlash and in mid-August had represented to the government that international charter flights be restarted from select and 'safe' destinations.
The representation had been jointly made by the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) and the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) who argued that flights from destinations like Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan, which allow Indians to enter should be permitted to land in Goa on the principle of reciprocation.
The trade bodies had argued that charter tourists are easy to monitor as they usually stay in their hotels and do not travel to other States of the country.
An official report prepared for the Goa tourism ministry by the government's consultant KPMG Advisory Services Pvt Ltd, has quantified a Rs 2000-7200 crore revenue hit due to the Covid-19 pandemic and an up to 58% job losses.
The report claims nearly 35 per-cent of Goa's population is dependent on tourism for livelihoods and pegs the industry's contribution to the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) at 16-odd per-cent.
