Goa casinos to reopen from November 1 at 50 per cent capacity

After the long COVID-19 lockdown, casinos in Goa are all set to reopen from November 1, 2020. The gorgeous beach destination has been fighting hard to keep away from a COVID outbreak, with all the tourism and water sports activities closed till recently. But now, as the state is reopening gradually, the state government has decided to open all the casinos as well.

The decision was taken on Wednesday, when Chief Minister Pramod Sawant told the press, “Casinos will start from November 1. We have given them permission.” The CM also informed the reporters that casino operators will have to pay licence fees per month from now on. Earlier, casino operators used to pay fees on an yearly basis.
Emphasising on the importance of tourism, The CM further said, "They will have to follow all the SOPs as issued to them by the Home Department. They will have to operate with 50 per cent capacity. We need to promote tourism activity."
Just a few days back, the news of reopening of beach shacks and resumption of water sports in the state had also come in. Beach shacks are one of the prime tourist attractions in the state and the tourism industry is quite dependent on them. The northern belt and beach shacks alone draw more than 7.8 million tourists per year. North Goa includes beaches like Calangute, Anjuna and Candolim, which are the most touristy ones.

When it comes to casinos, they are the second biggest tourist pull in the state. There are six on-shore casinos in Goa while 10 operate out of five-star resorts.

Goa COVID-19 protocols

Earlier, the beach destination had made it mandatory for all the visitors to get a COVID-19 negative certificate not older than two days from their arrival in Goa. However, all these rules are abolished now and one can enter the state anytime they wish for tourism purposes.

People can visit Goa and stay as long as they wish but it’s necessary to follow all the mandatory Coronavirus precautions.