PANAJI
Goa’s tourism trade captains are almost unanimous that the State has not come up with any new and distinctive offering this year, although the ‘Spiritual Tourism” module is the new buzz word on Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte’s lips except that its contours are yet to be defined.
According to Jack Sukhija, vice-president (North) of Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) and Pifran Fernandes, ex-president of the Federation of Small and Medium Hotels (FOSAMH), there is no new dimension of note to the Goa tourism bouquet this season.
Both Jack and Pifran, however, spoke highly of the ease-of-doing business initiative launched last year with bureaucratic red-tape virtually eliminated in registering units such as homes and apartments (flats) as ‘deemed hotels’ or ‘airbnb’ units.
Nonetheless, this has opened the floodgates and with it a few problems on the flip side. Most of these units are in residential buildings and localities where the stand alone homes are also closely interspersed, some with even common boundary walls.
“This brings in its own problems. There have been several instances of conflicts where 7-8 strangers walk in to occupy a flat for 3-4 days in a building where other residents are affected. It has to be resolved but there is no foreseeable solution, only problems. It’s a big challenge but needs to be tackled,” Pifran said.
Jack, however, is more optimistic and sees a solution to this problem in the longer term. He said: “The rules stipulate that the owner of the unit needs to get an NOC from the housing society and such other requirements. I am not saying there is a flip side and problems but these can be resolved in the longer term.”
According to Jack, people operated their flats and homes as tourist accommodation anyways but now there is some sanity and registration.
At least the government has a record of what’s happening. What it (government) does with that data, how it uses it to regulate, is quite another question and debate altogether,” Jack said.
Homestays policy still a long time coming
