After four months of lockdown in the country, the state of Goa has reopened some of its hotels and facilities for tourists from Thursday, July 2, 2020. The Goa tourism minister, M Ajgaonkar asserted that it will be imperative for all visitors to have a Covid negative certificate. “People who test positive will be given the option of returning to their respective states or staying back in Goa for treatment,” the minister added.
The decision to restart tourism activities was taken during a state cabinet meeting. This has been a particularly welcome move for the tourism industry. The picturesque state has the tourism industry as one of the major revenue-generating industries . The state has permitted 250 hotels to resume operations (in compliance with standard operating procedures) and strictly domestic tourists will be allowed.
The following norms are to be complied with, by all tourists entering the popular tourism spot, these include –
- The visitors have to get tested at the border of the state and undergo a quarantine at the state-run facility till their results.
- They must carry a negative COVID-19 certificate that has been conducted over the past 48 hours. Failing to do so, the travellers will have to get tested in Goa for the same.
- Any visitor testing positive for COVID-19 would either have to go back or stay in quarantine in Goa until their test result is declared.
- All tourists are required to pre-book their stay at a hotel that has been approved for operation by the Tourism department of the state.
- For travellers with bookings in a non-approved hotel or homestay will not be permitted, the same to be deemed as legal.
It becomes imperative for all the tourists to adhere to the rules of the state, otherwise the authorities will be compelled to disallow them from entering the state.
