CALANGUTE:
Non-Goan
staff of beach shacks, water sports and other tourism-related businesses like restaurants and guest-houses are finding it difficult to reach Goa, said
tourism
stakeholders.
“It’s a big problem,” hotelier and Calangute panchayat member Shawn Martins said. “Those staying in small towns and villages and are not able to get buses to reach the nearest railway station because the bus service has not started. There are also no
trains
in some parts,” he said.
“All the trains are fully booked till mid-November,” John Lobo, general secretary of the Shack Owners Welfare Society (SOWS), said. “There is only one train a day coming from states like Odisha, Bihar and the eastern states and they’re all running full. Those from Himachal Pradesh are unable to move because there are no buses to Delhi, from where they can get a train to Goa,” Lobo said.
With uncertainty also over how the new tourism season will pan out, Lobo said most stakeholders have decided to call back only a few of their regular staff.
“There is no point calling back all my regular staff as there may be hardly any boat trips permitted,” a water sports operator said.
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