As shacks along the bustling beaches of Calangute and Baga shut ahead of the approaching monsoon season, a dampener awaits future tourists who descend on its white sandy beaches with great enthusiasm. Reports suggest that soon the tourists would have to show hotel bookings or cough up an entry tax to enter the panchayat.
PTI reported that Calangute village in North Goa plans to collect entry tax from tourists. Sarpanch Joseph Sequeira
The Calangute village panchayat in North Goa will come up with a proposal to make it mandatory for tourists to show proof of hotel reservations or pay tax to entry its limits. Talking to PTI on June 6, Calangute Sarpanch Joseph Sequeira said, "The panchayat would adopt the resolution and forward it to the district collector in Panaji for further action. Once approved, its implementation will happen from the next tourist season (starting in October)," he said.
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However, a source told CNBCTV18.com that no such proposal had been received from anyone as yet. The village panchayat will hold a meeting on Friday (June 7), wherein it plans to adopt a resolution making it mandatory for tourists arriving there either to show a hotel reservation receipt or pay tax at the entry points.
The decision to impose entry tax was taken to maintain cleanliness and decency and reduce traffic issues faced by the locals, Sequeira said. "We want our village to be clean so that we can attract quality tourists," he said and added that these restrictions will only be meant for tourists and not locals.
The sarpanch gave the example of the tourist town of Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra, which collects entry tax from tourists. "We will do it on lines of Mahabaleshwar Municipal Council," Sequeira said.
A shack owner who has been operating in Calangute since the past 30 years told CNBCTV18, "The move will restrict tourists as they may opt to stay at homestays that often do not offer a receipt on payments. Such a move will definitely help improve movement of traffic and reduce unwanted tourists who often travel in mini-buses and live in them for days on end. These tourists are the ones who create problems for locals. The move will help restrict their entry. But it will affect local businesses, who depend on them to generate revenue.”
A panchayat member said, "Locals in the village often have issues with people parking their vehicles on our narrow streets, which leads to conflict and thus the move will help free movement of traffic."
A source in the Goa Tourism Department said that no proposal had been received as of June 6 and added that the administration will look into it once formal information is received.