PANAJI
Bringing to the notice of the Goa government many issues pertaining to the travel and tourism industry in the State and appealing to take appropriate measures to help the business recover and grow, the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) made a representation to the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday.The members discussed various issues that needed immediate action from the government and appealed to the Chief Minister to intervene and take appropriate steps. The TTAG pointed out the need of issuing E-visas for the UK and other countries and streamline charter flights. It also asked the CM to help resolve issues and challenges faced by the small hotels and implement taxi meters without further delay. The letter given to the CM appealed to him to look into the online fraud cases of hotels, offer safety to tourists and initiate measures to have connectivity between Mopa airport to other cities and villages. Having in place the inter-town bus connectivity as a cheap mode of transport for the tourists who wish to explore the hinterlands, was also a point that was brought to the notice of the CM.
Pointing out that the tourism sector in Goa is on the road to recovery after a lean period of two years of the covid pandemic. Steps taken by the government along with cooperation from trade have helped business to recover and start on a new path, Nilesh Shah, president, TTAG appealed to the Chief Minister to look into a few sensitive issues and take immediate action to resolve them.
“The E-tourist visas for the international travellers from countries such as UK and Canada should be restored as a high number of tourists visit India from these countries,” said Shah, adding, “To boost foreign tourist arrivals, the validity of free tourist visa needs to be extended till March 31, 2024, without capping of five lakh free tourist visas to boost inbound tourism to India.”
The TTAG has written to the Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Ministry of Tourism, Secretary (Tourism) “ Ministry of Tourism, secretary Home Affairs “ Ministry of Home Affairs to look into this issue. “Resolving this issue will help the charter season of 2022-23,” said Shah.
TTAG has demanded that law has to be enacted and power has to be given with the Act to the Goa Tourism Board, leaving the entire development and control of tourism in its hands.
There are a lot of online fraud cases where people are posing as hotels and selling rooms to customers illegitimately. Strict action needs to be taken to send a message to such fraudsters, demanded TTAG.
Pointing out to the touts on the roads who harass tourists in Miramar, Panaji, Candolim, Calangute, Baga etc and are found selling everything from water sports, food to nightclubs, dance bars as well as illegal items such as drugs, TTAG has demanded strict action against them.
TTAG also pointed out cases of harassment of tourists by the Police. “The Police need to be sensitized about handling tourists. A sensitization program should be run for the police force to understand that every tourist who is on a holiday is not a potential criminal. Tourist Police should have a separate uniform and soft skills training is essential,” demanded TTAG in its letter to the Chief Minister. The body also asked to provide a dedicated 24/7 helpline number for safety and emergency and that it should be informed and properly displayed to tourists at all tourist locations.
