The tourism industry has not had much to be happy about for the past couple of years. The virus has ensured that. Hotels opening and closing due to lockdowns have played havoc with the bottom lines of the industry. Now with the lockdown on in the state, the industry has been affected for a while now. With the situation slowly improving, it was noticed that tourists were coming to Goa but not to the levels that would make people happy. The industry is under lockdown though not officially shut. The CM made statements on different days that the industry would open when the positivity rate would drop to five percent below. He later said the whole of Goa ought to be vaccinated before the industry could be reopened and then he said a decision would be made sometime later in the month. This has left industry players wondering what the stance is.
Savio Messias hotelier said as far as opening of the tourism industry is concerned, the opening government seems confused about reopening and has been making different statements on different days. They said if the positivity rate dropped to 5 % then the industry could open. Then they said if Goa has to be fully vaccinated then the industry could open. He said “Then another statement follows that a final decision would be made in July. Tourism has definitely not closed in Goa but the promotion of tourism has not taken place because the Goa govt has to do a lot of damage control to change the mindset for people to come to the state. We have to encourage international and domestic tourists to come over. We have earned a very bad name all over the world.”
He said they had placed their points with the CM and the tourism minister for opening tourism and for relief to the industry. They were awaiting action from him. He however bemoaned the fact that nothing had happened as yet because it was very important that something be done. He ended by saying that if the third wave came in and hit them like the second wave did then many hotels would shut down.
Serafin Cotta who heads the association of medium and small hotels said they had a meeting and they had suggested something different. He said “We are looking at everyone being vaccinated in Goa and we want all the staff in the hospitality industry to be injected. The tourist should have a negative certificate and also they should show documents that they have taken at least one shot. This removes all problems. All casino staff should be given both doses. And yes, negative certificates for all those coming to the casino”.
Nilesh Shah President TTAG said they had met the CM and they revealed that if the positivity rate would drop to 5 percent, they would get back to us. Tourism he said could open. Nilesh said “80 percent of people in the hotels that are open or planning to open have been vaccinated. Many have taken the second dose . People in the industry need to feel safe while serving. Those coming in should follow all the sops and yes have all their papers in order”. He felt it would not be a problem to open up by July first if the positivity rate fell below five percent. Everyone he said had to follow the sops to keep safe.
It’s important to realize that in what is the one industry that plays a big role in the economy, statements and decisions have to be taken considering the future of the business.
