Team Herald
PANJIM: Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte on Tuesday informed that Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) will start the counter with queue system for the taxis, as he assigned responsibilities for the smooth movement of tourists from the cruise terminal at the Mormugao Port.
South Goa District Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police, South have been asked to monitor the situation at the Mormugao berth following clashes between the taxis and tour operators last week.
During the meeting chaired by the Minister, it was informed that as many as 42 ships with thousands of tourists and passengers will call on the Mormugao Port from January 2023.
Khaunte stressed on the need to have a monitoring and a queue system for the taxi and coaches at the cruise terminal. The State government through the GTDC will start the counter with queue system for the taxis, he said.
“We have called upon the cooperation of the Mormugao MLA (Sankalp Amonkar) to render smooth experience to the tourists visiting the Mormugao port,” Khaunte added.
The government has decided to cancel the permits of the taxi owners who were involved in clashes with tour operators and blocked the American tourists at the cruise terminal. The tourism stakeholders handling cruise ship tourists are having a tough time convincing the rest of the inbound cruise liners to berth at the Mormugao port due to last week’s unsavoury incident.
One of the tour operators has said that the government will have to take strong and firm steps to make sure the lost trust is restored back among the cruise liner tourism.
Mormugao MLA Sankalp Amonkar meanwhile said that he will extend support to all the attempts to improve tourism in the State.
