Reboot tourism by starting charter flights, Goa CM urged

Panaji, Aug 17 (IANS) Goa's travel and tourism industry on Tuesday urged authorities to restart international charter flights to the state, in order to reboot the state's tourism industry which has faced a glut in international tourism in wake of the pandemic.

In a representation submitted to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, representatives of the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa on Tuesday have also said that flights from "safe destinations" which allow entry to Indian nationals like Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan should be allowed to land in Goa in the spirit of reciprocation.

"As Goa is one of the leading states for tourism, we propose that charter flights be allowed to land in Goa specially from safe destinations who have allowed Indians to travel to their countries on tourist visa and international flights are already operating in between two countries like Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan," the joint representation to the CM states.

"So we should reciprocate the same way. As tourists arriving in Goa don't travel to any other state and majority of them spend their time at their respective hotels so it becomes easy to control and monitor them," it added.

Earlier on Tuesday, officials of both organisations met Sawant and urged him to take steps to restart tourism in the state to salvage the state's economy, which has been largely reliant on tourism, ever since the collapse of the mining industry some years back.

"Tourism is one of the most adversely affected sectors for the Covid pandemic. The tourism sector employs over 40 million skilled and trained manpower and generates approximately $29 billion foreign exchange per annum. With the full closure of international flights and visas since March 2020, many operators and stakeholders closed offices and are facing severe financial constraints," the representation states.

It also states that in case the third wave of the pandemic does kick in, then charter operations can also be cancelled as and when the need arises.

"If by any chance there is any third wave of Covid-19, then announcement of cancellation of charter operations can be made by September or October," the representation also states.