After Dec high, Khaunte calls for ‘relook at type of tourists’ Goa gets

Panaji: Tourism minister Rohan Khaunte on Monday described Dec as a season with ups and downs but admitted that there is a need to rethink the type of tourists that the state attracts.“If you look at the number of vehicles entering the state in Dec, that number went up, but I think we have to start looking at the type of tourists that are coming in. We have to relook at the model,” said Khaunte. He said that irresponsible tourists end up maligning the name of the state.“It is unfortunate that unruly and irresponsible tourists come to Goa. We need to be alert to stop such things,” Khaunte said.Indirectly admitting that several things are going wrong in the tourism industry, Khaunte said it is for all stakeholders to work together to address issues pertaining to taxis, rubbish, stray cattle and dogs, potholes on the roads, and touts, which come under different departments.“Although it comes under various departments, it comes under the collective responsibility of the tourism department because tourists experience this. This has to be done collectively. Goa’s economy survives on tourism, and we need to address these issues once and for all. We will have ups and downs. We are having a meeting with all the stakeholders again, and at that time we will talk about the data. But Dec was quite OK, balanced, I would say. The South was quite good, while in the North there were ups and downs.”He blamed the nightclub fire and disruption in flights, which resulted in 30% of flight cancellations, for affecting tourist arrivals.Khaunte also said that GTDC’s Unity Mall project has all the required permissions in place. He said that govt respects the wetland ecosystem around the lake. He said he would speak in detail only after the court order scheduled on Jan 8.He also claimed that while private projects often face no objections, govt projects tend to be opposed.