The Goa government must act on unregistered hotels and home stays as unfair competition is hurting the tourism industry and the State is also losing revenue.
Of late it has been noticed that tourists are shunning hotels and prefer houses or flats close to sea. Even as thousands of tourists thronged Goa for Carnival and Valentine’s Day weekend, a changing trend in their choice of accommodation was noticed.
This shift in tourists choosing flats or houses has become more obvious after the lockdown. Those who offer their properties to tourists are most likely unregistered.
These unregistered entities don’t pay any levies, taxes or commercial charges for utility connections to the government. This trend is noticed not only in Arambol but along most of the coastal areas where houses are converted in to guest houses.
With the tourism and hospitality industry already under pressure due to the pandemic, the government needs to take strong steps to crack down on touts and unauthorised home stays & hotels in the State that could hurt the tourism sector.
