PANJIM: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has assured to revive the tourism industry following a meeting with the hotel and restaurant operators on Wednesday. “Government will take positive decision within a week to revive tourism industry. We will also see that all Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are followed while reopening the hotels,” he told reporters.
To overcome mounting losses as a result of COVID-19 induced lockdown, the hoteliers and restaurant operators met the CM demanding resumption of bars attached to restaurants as part of the unlock 1.0. The Goa Hotels and Restaurants Association requested the CM to re-open the operations full-fledged from July 1, 2020 else their survival as well as economy to the government would be further affected.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
“Since the govt has allowed re-opening of liquor outlets, the bars attached to restaurants should also be allowed, because no restaurants can operate without bars. Bars are an integral part of the restaurants and it has to be open. Without liquor, none of the restaurants will survive and neither economy (to the State),” association President Gaurish Dhond told media persons on Wednesday.
A delegation led by Dhond earlier met CM with a list of demands regarding the re-opening of the restaurants, bars and hotels from next month.
“In Goa, liquor is a part of our culture. It is not that you come to booze or get drunk… Many would like to have a small peg while having dinner. Restaurants generate income to the govt. We were paying huge taxes by way of VAT and GST. It should thus start functioning with bars,” he added while assuring that all safety measures will be adhered to.
Conceding that the three months of lockdown has largely impacted their business, the association has also urged the government to allow restaurants till 11pm.
“We are going through a bad time ever since COVID-19 pandemic it the country followed by lockdown. Almost three months have passed and only a few (restaurants) opened their business with scarce staff. Only 20-25 percent staff is Goans while the remaining (non-Goan) workers stranded in their States,” he added, while mentioning that, “In Goa, you find people eating after 9:30pm so we requested the CM to allow overtime till 11pm.”
The association, that also requested revising SOPs for hotels, said that CM has assured “very positively” to look into their demands. “COVID-19 is here to stay but we assure the government that all the health protocols such as sanitisation, wearing of masks, social distancing, etc will be followed,” Dhond said.
