The COVID-19 pandemic has set its foot in India, and everyone is trying their level best to combat it. Strict measures are being taken to save the people of the country. In many parts of the country, schools, colleges, and offices have been closed. Gatherings at any restaurant or hall have been forbidden. By putting a halt to all these activities, the government aims to avoid further spread of this infection.
Goa and its casinos is one of the most famous tourist spots which attracts a large number of tourist every year from all across the globe. But right now, tourist spots are the most significant source of transmission of the infection.
Foreign visas have been cancelled to make sure people from other countries do not come here for whatsoever reasons. As a safety measure, all the casinos in Goa have been shut down for the next two weeks as a measure to fight the pandemic.
Though this step is needed to protect our people, closing the casinos will be a big blow to the economy of the state.
How shutting down of casinos will affect our economy?
Goa has some offshore and onshore floating casinos. The closing of these casinos can significantly affect the economy of the state.
- Casinos in Goa are a source of employment for a large number of people. Waiters, hosts, managers and cleaners, a casino is capable of offering job opportunities to the local people of Goa.
Closing of casinos might affect the job and income of thousands of employees working there.
- Every tourist who visits Goa visits the casino at least once. People come there for a fun night out. They gamble, eat, and drink at the casino itself. The casinos pay considerable taxes to the state, which significantly boosts the economic growth of the country.
The tax revenues earned by the government through casinos is one of the highest in Goa. This revenue is mostly used for public education and other essential needs. The state will be losing a lot of revenue because of this shutdown.
- The local retail sales also increase as most of the people coming to casinos are tourists. They spend a few days in Goa and explore all the fine dining areas and visit different tourist spots. This also helps these other businesses to profit, and the state prospers as a whole.
- A few major events were planned in the coming days. All the investment put into it by the casinos have been wasted for now. Planning and organizing everything again will be a big blow to their revenue.
The shutdown of Casinos for a couple of weeks is going to be a huge issue. However, we as a country are facing a pandemic and our trying to fight it with all the correct measures.
Once we get over this and our lives return to normal, our government will have to come up with ways to cope up with the loss we will suffer. Restoring our economy will be the next biggest challenge we will have to deal with and the crisis might have a bigger impact than we initially thought.
