Tourism Won’t Thrive Without Entertainment: Majestic Pride’s Director

It’s been a long time since Goans visited a casino and got used to the lifestyle that they once enjoyed. And the major roadblock that seems to be on its way is the state government’s decision to extend the Covid-19 curfew till the 6th of September and keep the entertainment industry closed. The 24-hour curfew, which came into effect from the 9th of May, in a bid to reduce the number of cases, has been an important part of the state government’s steps to tackle Covid-19.

However, the government has also unlocked several other economic activities to revive the economy and help the state fight the virus in a new manner. But these stages of unlocking did not come into effect for avenues involving entertainment and thus, river cruises and casinos are yet to be opened. Since it affects tourism and businesses to a huge extent, the members of the Travel & Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) had a meeting with chief minister Pramod Sawant and requested him to open up these sectors.

The meeting was held to convey the economic distress caused by the pandemic and why opening these sectors will be of great help in seeking the kind of revival that we all want.

Shrinivas Nayak’s Take on the Matter

Adding further to the main point put forward by TTAG, Majestic Pride Casino’s Shrinivas Nayak made it clear that tourism is yet to take shape and is lagging behind due to the government’s refusal to open up the entertainment industry. While hotels and restaurants are back in action, one cannot witness tourism reaching the expected level of success without the complete opening up of the entertainment industry.

Nayak also stated that they have around 2000 employees on their payroll without any form of revenue to take care of them. Due to that, the condition of the industry is in a bad state of affairs and the state government needs to acknowledge the matter. Apart from Shrinivas Nayak, several other stakeholders from the industry also echoed his points and stated their concerns.

With the state of the entire industry being in shambles, the effects of the same need to be highlighted and financial requirements have to be met. The only way to do so is to open up the industry and help the tourism sector flourish again.