Adv Carlos calls for review of B&B hotels, low quality tourists
PANAJI: Aldona Congress MLA Adv Carlos Alvares Ferreira on Tuesday urged the government to regulate the functioning of Air B & B and guest houses, which he said are catering to low income tourists who do not bring any benefit into the state.
Speaking during the discussion on demands for grants to the Tourism Department, Adv Carlos said that encouraging such businesses was doing Goa’s tourism no favours.
“I think that the bread and breakfast is taking away a chunk of the business of the licensed hotels. They (the tourists who use these facilities) don’t even go to a restaurant, they bring a cook, which they cook in these houses. When the owners are giving houses on rent, rooms on rent for short term stays, they are running it without any responsibility. Sometimes they are not even staying here running through some local caretaker,” he said.
“The shacks are almost empty. Restaurants are also empty where people were complaining that they were doing no business,” he said.
Adv Carlos enquired how B&B could work operate: it needs Panchayat permission, registration with Department, conversion under Land Revenue Code and then commercial rate of electoral & the necessary certificates from the pollution control board which makes it unviable.
“Many Air B & B don’t even have NOC from societies. there should be a mechanism to check. The residents are getting worked up against these people,” he said, adding that things like house tax needed to be clarified.
Adv Carlos also questioned the figures put out by the tourism department saying the figures presented were dissonant with the reality on the ground.
“That kind of vibe is not to be seen. Hotel occupancy rate is not that much. I don’t know what basis the footfall is calculated or is it on occupancy,” he also said.
He called on the government to work with the influencers instead of attempting to file FIRs against them, which he said will only bring bad publicity.
“I think we need to find the motives. If they are right we have to rectify our system. Sometimes their concerns are genuine,” he also said.
He called on the government to expedite the work at the Pomburpa spring, which he said is in a dilapidated condition and in need of urgent repair.
Loading ...
