The tourism activities that are on hold in Goa since the second wave hit the state will resume back only after the state completes its 100 coverage of the first dose of Covid vaccination in the state, said the CM Dr. Pramod Sawant.
Tourism and mining are two of the major source of income for this tiny little state and the mining has already run under the ban due to the supreme order and the tourism in the state came to a complete halt due to the Covid situation and hence there is a need of one of the two getting resumed as soon as possible since the majority of the population is dependent on it.
There were many attempts made by the tourism stakeholder in the state to resume the tourism activities in Goa but due to the Covid situation it did not become possible, and now the CM made the statement in the media that the tourism will resume only after the 100 percent population of Goa gets its first jab of Covid vaccine.
According to the reports, so far 8,66,730 people have been administered the first dose of vaccine and the total population of Goa is approximately 15 Lakhs, which means nearly half of the population is still awaiting or not taken their first dose of vaccine.
“We will consider opening up the state borders for tourism only after the 100 percent population gets its first jab of vaccine,” said CM Dr. Pramod Sawant adding that 30th July will be the targeted date for completion of vaccination. “We have targeted July 30 as the date for completion of 100 percent first vaccine jab coverage. We can think of opening up tourism only after that,” Sawant also said.
The state-level curfew is still in force in the state of Goa although most of the places are crowded things are moving as normal. The restaurants and bars are allowed to remain open with the 50% capacity while the malls and departmental stores are also allowed to reopen in the state in the third phase of curfew.
There are few hotels operating in the state with a limited capacity, following the strict Covid norms but the industry is yet open fully. The monsoon tourism is not yet activated in the state and very few domestic tourists are doing the bookings.
There is hope that by the end of July things will get streamlined and situations will be back to normal but that only time will tell. What are your views on this? Please share your views and suggestions in the comments box below, and in case you want to share any story please send us at [email protected]
