<p>Restarting international charter flights will facilitate the entry of inbound foreign tourists and help reboot the state's tourism economy, which has taken a hit since the advent of the pandemic, tourism and travel industry stakeholders told Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Tuesday.</p>.<p>Officials from the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa also told Sawant to set-up dedicated and reserved beds for international travellers in case they test positive for Covid.</p>.<p>"As Goa is one of the leading states for tourism, we propose that charter flights be allowed to land in Goa specially from safe destinations who have allowed Indians to travel to their countries on tourist visa and international flights are already operating in between two countries like Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan," the association heads said in a joint representation to the CM.</p>.<p>"So we should reciprocate the same way. As tourists arriving in Goa don’t travel to any other state and majority of them spend their time at their respective hotels so it becomes easy to control and monitor them," the representation also said.</p>.<p>The tourism industry has been the mainstay of the state economy , after mining was shut down a few years ago following a Supreme Court order. The sector has however been severely hit due to the pandemic, which has virtually shut down leisure travel internationally.</p>.<p>"Tourism is one of the most adversely affected sectors for the Covid pandemic. The tourism sector employs over 40 million skilled and trained manpower and generates approximately $29 billion foreign exchange per annum. With the full closure of international flights and visas since March 2020, many operators and stakeholders closed office and are facing severe financial constraints," the representation also adds.</p>
<p>Restarting international charter flights will facilitate the entry of inbound foreign tourists and help reboot the state's tourism economy, which has taken a hit since the advent of the pandemic, tourism and travel industry stakeholders told Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Tuesday.</p>.<p>Officials from the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa also told Sawant to set-up dedicated and reserved beds for international travellers in case they test positive for Covid.</p>.<p>"As Goa is one of the leading states for tourism, we propose that charter flights be allowed to land in Goa specially from safe destinations who have allowed Indians to travel to their countries on tourist visa and international flights are already operating in between two countries like Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan," the association heads said in a joint representation to the CM.</p>.<p>"So we should reciprocate the same way. As tourists arriving in Goa don’t travel to any other state and majority of them spend their time at their respective hotels so it becomes easy to control and monitor them," the representation also said.</p>.<p>The tourism industry has been the mainstay of the state economy , after mining was shut down a few years ago following a Supreme Court order. The sector has however been severely hit due to the pandemic, which has virtually shut down leisure travel internationally.</p>.<p>"Tourism is one of the most adversely affected sectors for the Covid pandemic. The tourism sector employs over 40 million skilled and trained manpower and generates approximately $29 billion foreign exchange per annum. With the full closure of international flights and visas since March 2020, many operators and stakeholders closed office and are facing severe financial constraints," the representation also adds.</p>
