TEAM HERALD
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PANJIM: The tourism industry in Goa has played its cards in favour of land casinos urging the government to reduce the annual fee hike from Rs 2.5 crore effected in the last budget (2012-13) to Rs 50 lakh in the forthcoming Budget (2013-14).
In a memorandum submitted by Travel and Tourism Association of Goa to the chief minister on Monday, it stated that last year’s hike, from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 2.5 crore was almost a hike by 2500 per cent compared to 33 per cent hike off-shore casinos fees.
“The result has been that majority of the land based casinos in five star hotels have closed down,” TTAG stated in its memorandum submitted by a delegation led by President Francis Braganza.
The memorandum points out that much injustice was done to land based casinos with not only hike in its fee but also the reduction of the entry fee to Rs 500 for off-shore casinos which led to loss of business for land based casinos.
It may be recalled that the annual license fees for land based casino were raised in the last budget from around Rs 10 to 12 lakhs to Rs 2.5 crores compared to the hike in off shore casinos fees from Rs 5 crores to Rs 6.5 crores (33%).
Besides the entry fee to the off shore casino had been reduced from Rs 2000 to Rs 500.
“The result was that majority of the land based casinos in five star hotels closed down during the year,” claims TTAG. It states further that as a result of rise in the fees the casinos at Leela, Holiday Inn, Majorda, O Hotel, Riviera de Goa (Doubletree by Hilton), Kenilworth, Ramada have closed down resulting in huge losses to local hotels who had invested in crores in equipment and interiors of the casinos.
According to the industry stakeholders, these land based casinos are only used by the tourists and act as a booster for sales, specially in the off- season. The memorandum appeals to the chief minister to correct the injustice by bringing down the annual fees for land based casinos to Rs 50 lakh.
It has gone a step further to say, “If casinos are bad then all the casinos are bad.
The land based casinos alone cannot be discriminated against.”
Simultaneously it also suggests that a condition needs to be imposed that all casinos must have 80 per cent Goan -origin employees..
Welcoming this move another land based Casino manager from Panjim who also requested anonymity said, “It is a good move on the part of the TTAG to demand for a reduction in fees for land casinos as the hike in fees last year had severely affected business. The overall situation has not been good with land casinos having to shut down and people have been retrenched.”
