SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2024
Ajit John
The TTAG has petitioned the state government to allow charter flights next season to operate in a bubble. The proposed bubble will guarantee the safety of the tourist from the point of departure to his destination. The body suggested this bubble be allowed for flights coming in from Russia, UK, Poland, Ukraine, Finland, Kazakhistan and CIS countries. The business also requested for free visas and landing for charter flights as part of a pre budget memorandum given to the CM by the President Nilesh Shah. Speaking to Café the President Nilesh Shah, he said “Russia has allowed flights to operate to India in a bubble from March onwards. Similarly they are open to our nationals entering their country. The idea of a bubble is very good. Yes, the season is ending but this will be very good for the next season. The Indian government should start the visa portal. People want to come but international flights are banned till March 31st.”. He said this idea would also be helpful for any FIT were interested in coming into Goa once the ban on international travelers was removed. Looking to the future he said “The next season is going to be very competitive. Egypt, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Dubai, Turkey will give very tough competition. We have to compete in this scenario. We have to compete in this market. We are all in survival mode. We have to allow free charter flights in Goa. In addition we should give free visas to tourists visiting Goa. This will cost nothing more than Rs 5 crore to the exchequer. We have to do this to compete in a very tough market.” The response of the CM, he said was good and he hoped something positive would come out of it. Sheikh Ismail of Concorde Exotic Voyages said his company usually brings in anywhere between 43,000 to 58,000 tourists per season. This was usually done in jumbo jets and these aircrafts would land five times in a week. Now with the virus having struck all this had come to naught. Sheikh said “Aeroflot is already flying to Delhi. Our Russian partners Rossiya Airline keep asking us when we will open. They have commenced flights to Sri Lanka and Maldives. They started flying to Dubai two months ago and are waiting desperately for us to open. I hope this letter pushes the process faster. I have a staff of 27 who I have paid salaries for over a year without any money coming in.” He said there were several companies waiting for the barriers at the borders to lift and for the foreign visitor to fly in. However like everything there are two sides to a story. A hotelier who has been in the business for several decades said this was nothing but a waste of time. He said decisions on free visas and free landing were all central subjects and would have to be discussed at the centre. That would require the CM to drive it and it would have to be done with the appropriate people in Delhi. These meetings with the CM made no sense. The government he said had no money and this move if initiated would require the government to let go of some money which would not happen. Well that’s that. One can only hope something good happens to help the industry which has been marked badly by the virus.
