PANAJI
The Central govt has approved Rs 41.49 crore under the Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) scheme of the Union ministry of tourism for development at the Basilica of Bom Jesus and parts of the Old Goa church complex, informed Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte.
He was speaking to media persons after attending State Tourism Board meeting. He said, related works will be taken up before scheduled Exposition of St Francis Xavier at Old Goa in 2024.
Other decisions taken/issues discussed during the meeting include:
Goa will be hosting Goa International Travel Mart(GITM) 2023 in February or March 2023.
A Mini Convention centre at Patto, Panaji capable of accommodating 1,320 persons and Hospitality and skill development academy will be ready by March 2023, ahead of the G20 summit meetings to be held in Goa.
A Project Management Unit approved for Goa Tourism Board.
First in the country ‘Tourism Act’ being finalised with National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR) as legal consultant.
Beach cleaning activity timings to be extended. Facility to operate from 6 am to 9 pm. Cleaning of approach roads to beaches also to be managed by Dept. Govt spends Rs 9 crore to Rs 10 crore annually on beach cleaning activity. The amount is likely to increase with additional tasks of life saving, beach surveillance attached to the activity. Tenders invited for Artificial Intelligence (AI) base data analytics system through display panels set up in public places.
It was decided to tackle Illegalities related to water sports, beach beds, touting, beach massages, operating without registration etc with iron fist.
A Tourist Grievance Redressal Helpline in 3 languages will be started and will be extended to 5 languages in due course of time.
Stating that Tourism Department is going through a phase where everybody is being ‘irresponsible’, the minister said that a 10-11 point advisory will be issued by the department under hashtag #responsibleTourism.
Digitisation of old records of the Tourism Department underway with the objective of going completely paperless.
Tourism Dept will set up a counter at MPT. Queue system to be followed by transportation facility providers for tourists.
