P’yat, MLA must work together for Calangute: Khaunte

Panaji: Tourism minister Rohan Khaunte on Wednesday said that promoting tourism in Calangute is going to be difficult in the future. He said that the department has come up with a plan to streamline tourism activities in Calangute, but for it to succeed, it will need the Calangute panchayat and MLA to work together.

Calangute sarpanch Joseph Sequeira and Calangute MLA Michael Lobo are political rivals. “It is a challenge for all of us, but doable to restore Calangute to its old glory. The way Calangute is getting a bad name, tourism may be a challenge in this belt. We need to work together – the panchayat, the MLA and the department – to restore Calangute to its glory of the past and put things in perspective to give the feel and aura of the old days,” said Khaunte.

When asked about the nuisance being created by domestic tourists in Fontainhas, Khaunte said that the tourism department isn’t actively promoting the Latin Quarter as a tourist destination.

“We never marked Fontainhas as a tourism cluster and we are not promoting it. The people residing there were the ones who promoted Fontainhas for foreigners. But while doing that you cannot do it only for one category, and so domestic tourists also got in and it is now overexploited and that is a concern,” said Khaunte.


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