<p>Ahead of the Assembly elections next year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said faster Covid-19 vaccination will help tourism-dependent states such as Goa to reopen in time for the tourist season from November.</p>.<p>Interacting with health workers in Goa, Modi said he has been assured by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant that the state will be fully vaccinated by October 31, well in time to receive tourists in winter, when foreign visitors flock the verdant beaches of the state.</p>.<p>“States linked with the tourism sector have been given primacy in the vaccination drive. It is very important that our tourism destinations open as early as possible,” the prime minister said, noting that Uttarakhand too has started the Char Dham yatra from Saturday.</p>.<p>“If people from the hotel industry, taxi drivers, street vendors, shopkeepers are vaccinated then tourists can come to Goa with a sense of assurance of safety. Now, Goa is a part of a select group of tourist destinations where people are equipped with the shield of vaccination,” he said.</p>.<p>Assembly elections are due in Goa in February and a revival of tourism in winters could help lift the mood of gloom in the state due to a halt to tourism during the forced lockdowns due to Covid-19.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/wish-pm-narendra-modi-celebrated-his-birthday-everyday-congress-on-25-crore-record-vaccinations-1031713.html" target="_blank">Wish PM celebrated birthday daily: Cong on vaccination</a></strong></p>.<p>“It is our wish that the state witnesses tourism activities just like before from the upcoming tourism season. But this will be possible only if we pay as much attention to Covid-appropriate behaviour as much as we have given to vaccination,” Modi said.</p>.<p>The Prime Minister said India has decided to grant five lakh free tourist visas to encourage foreign tourists to visit the country besides facilitating easier loans to those associated with the tourism sector.</p>.<p>Modi also did not lose the opportunity to recall the contribution of late chief minister Manohar Parrikar in the development of the state.</p>.<p>In the same breath, the Prime Minister also wholeheartedly backed Sawant, the incumbent chief minister, who was “carrying forward Parrikar’s legacy in all earnest”.</p>.<p><strong>Watch latest videos by DH here:</strong></p>
<p>Ahead of the Assembly elections next year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said faster Covid-19 vaccination will help tourism-dependent states such as Goa to reopen in time for the tourist season from November.</p>.<p>Interacting with health workers in Goa, Modi said he has been assured by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant that the state will be fully vaccinated by October 31, well in time to receive tourists in winter, when foreign visitors flock the verdant beaches of the state.</p>.<p>“States linked with the tourism sector have been given primacy in the vaccination drive. It is very important that our tourism destinations open as early as possible,” the prime minister said, noting that Uttarakhand too has started the Char Dham yatra from Saturday.</p>.<p>“If people from the hotel industry, taxi drivers, street vendors, shopkeepers are vaccinated then tourists can come to Goa with a sense of assurance of safety. Now, Goa is a part of a select group of tourist destinations where people are equipped with the shield of vaccination,” he said.</p>.<p>Assembly elections are due in Goa in February and a revival of tourism in winters could help lift the mood of gloom in the state due to a halt to tourism during the forced lockdowns due to Covid-19.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/wish-pm-narendra-modi-celebrated-his-birthday-everyday-congress-on-25-crore-record-vaccinations-1031713.html" target="_blank">Wish PM celebrated birthday daily: Cong on vaccination</a></strong></p>.<p>“It is our wish that the state witnesses tourism activities just like before from the upcoming tourism season. But this will be possible only if we pay as much attention to Covid-appropriate behaviour as much as we have given to vaccination,” Modi said.</p>.<p>The Prime Minister said India has decided to grant five lakh free tourist visas to encourage foreign tourists to visit the country besides facilitating easier loans to those associated with the tourism sector.</p>.<p>Modi also did not lose the opportunity to recall the contribution of late chief minister Manohar Parrikar in the development of the state.</p>.<p>In the same breath, the Prime Minister also wholeheartedly backed Sawant, the incumbent chief minister, who was “carrying forward Parrikar’s legacy in all earnest”.</p>.<p><strong>Watch latest videos by DH here:</strong></p>
