Ahead of the new tourism season in October the state government has reportedly hiked the fees for organizing music festivals by almost 50-100 per cent depending on the attendees. The revised fee structure is for both major and minor tourism-related events. The tourism department has also said that all the fees will be revised by 10 per cent annually with effect from April 2024. It is learnt that besides music festivals, fees have been hiked for handicraft bazaars, motorbike weeks, car rallies, exhibitions, and other tourism-related events such as youth festivals. However what comes as a big surprise is that fees have been hiked for non-ticketed music events also. Goa has been a favourite wedding destination. It is learnt that the fees for destination weddings has been hiked from the present Rs 6,000 to a whopping 50,000. This may keep couples from other states belonging to the middle-income group away from having a dream destination wedding in Goa with the exception of the very rich. The hike in the fees of the various tourism-related events could be a dampener for the organizers. While hiking the fees for the major events the department could have spared the minor tourism related events from the fee hike. The government could have a relook in the fee structure of minor tourism related events as also for destination weddings.
Dangerous blind corners for vehicles in Benaulim
With the onset of the monsoons, many road bends in Benaulim are overgrown with creepers and bushes. This results in dangerous blind corners for speeding vehicles coming from opposite directions which many a time results in accidents. I would request the village panchayat to trim these growths to prevent accidents.
