Panaji, The bill to promote tourism in Goa aims to plug revenue leakages and bring discipline to the sector, meeting the expectations of stakeholders, state tourism minister Rohan Khaunte said on Monday.
Addressing a press conference in Panaji, Khaunte addressed concerns raised by opposition MLAs who had termed the Goa Tourism Promotion Regulation and Management Bill, 2024, as anti-tourism industry.
He accused the opposition of spreading false propaganda by claiming that the tourism department would impose taxes on organizing events, including marriages, in the state.
The minister clarified that the bill aims to collect fees for tourism-related events.
"There is a major revenue leakage from events that never pay any fee to the tourism department. We will impose a fee to regulate these events," Khaunte said.
He also addressed concerns about the Tourism Police, stating that it already exists in the state. The bill, he said, would authorize the Director of Tourism to determine its deployment based on need.
"Fear is spreading that we are creating a parallel police force that will go into stores and create terror. There is nothing like that. There is no parallel police force," he added.
The minister also said that the bill talks about charging two percent fees for various tourist services, which will apply only to those companies that are located in tourist groups.
"At present there are no tourism clusters in the state. Even if we want to declare tourism clusters, we will do so having confidence in the stakeholders," he said.
He added that the tax collected from these groups would be used to improve tourism facilities in the respective areas.
The minister said the bill is being drafted and the government is taking suggestions from stakeholders and common people.
He said the deadline for receiving suggestions was extended by 15 days to July 21.
Addressing a press conference in Panaji, Khaunte addressed concerns raised by opposition MLAs who had termed the Goa Tourism Promotion Regulation and Management Bill, 2024, as anti-tourism industry.
He accused the opposition of spreading false propaganda by claiming that the tourism department would impose taxes on organizing events, including marriages, in the state.
The minister clarified that the bill aims to collect fees for tourism-related events.
"There is a major revenue leakage from events that never pay any fee to the tourism department. We will impose a fee to regulate these events," Khaunte said.
He also addressed concerns about the Tourism Police, stating that it already exists in the state. The bill, he said, would authorize the Director of Tourism to determine its deployment based on need.
"Fear is spreading that we are creating a parallel police force that will go into stores and create terror. There is nothing like that. There is no parallel police force," he added.
The minister also said that the bill talks about charging two percent fees for various tourist services, which will apply only to those companies that are located in tourist groups.
"At present there are no tourism clusters in the state. Even if we want to declare tourism clusters, we will do so having confidence in the stakeholders," he said.
He added that the tax collected from these groups would be used to improve tourism facilities in the respective areas.
The minister said the bill is being drafted and the government is taking suggestions from stakeholders and common people.
He said the deadline for receiving suggestions was extended by 15 days to July 21.
