During the recently held fifth meeting, the Goa Tourism Board (GTB) focused on infrastructure development at cruise terminals, regulation of transport services, including taxis and rent-a-car, cultural tourism, MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) and wedding tourism, and maintaining cleanliness at tourist spots.
Each of the above categories were discussed threadbare, such as provisions of washrooms, lounges, hotels, faster security checks, regulating taxi fares, and uniform pricing to/from airports, railway stations, and cruise terminals, stricter rules for rent-a-cab, single-window clearance for MICE and wedding tourism, safety protocols on beaches, and so forth.
Most of these are old issues and might have been discussed in previous meetings, especially about improving local transport and fixing the taxi fares. Hope in the present meeting, the members checked the action taken report, deliberated about the non-execution of some of the earlier recommendations, and addressed the reasons for the shortcomings and non-implementations. Some of the earlier ideas could be prioritised and completed while simultaneously taking up the new proposals. Otherwise, in the sixth meeting, the GTB may end up discussing the same old matters, while stray dogs and cattle roam on the beaches and roads!
