Hyderabad-drafted bill ignores Goa’s tourism biz concerns, CM Pramod Sawant told

Panaji: A delegation of Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) met with chief minister Pramod Sawant to express dismay with the Goa Tourism Promotion, Management and Regulation Bill.
TTAG has urged the chief minister not to introduce the bill till concerns raised by the local industry stakeholders are addressed.
TTAG has also objected to the 2% sustainability fee that the tourism department has proposed to foist onto the tourism industry.
“This bill has been drafted by National Academy of Legal Studies and Research, Hyderabad, but nobody was consulted here in Goa,” said Francisco Braganza, the past president of TTAG.
He added, “I don’t think the CM knows about it and I don’t think the tourism minister knew about it. There are huge fees in the name of sustainability fee. A fee is usually fixed and cannot be a percentage of the revenue.”
The association has appealed to govt to keep the bill in abeyance till local stakeholders are consulted. TTAG has submitted a list of 40 changes and concerns that need to be addressed before the bill is introduced in the assembly.
Tourism minister Rohan Khaunte is keen on introducing the bill during the monsoon session, which the industry is dead against.
“I am sure that they will address the challenges before taking this bill forward,” said Nilesh Shah, another past president of TTAG. Shah said that the bill in its present form will not help govt fulfil its “ease of doing business” mission.
North Goa president of TTAG Aakash Madgavkar said that stakeholders from the tourism as well as the food and beverage industry are upset with the bill.
“If presented to the House as proposed, the bill will render the department of tourism redundant and will have no legal basis for its continuance,” TTAG has said in a letter to Sawant and Khaunte. The letter added, “Likewise, GTDC will have no role to play and functions to perform.”