With the announcement of the much-awaited Tourism Policy 2020, the Chief Minister of Goa has also stated that the license fee for beach shacks has been reduced by 50%. This decision is in line with one of the most important demands of shack owners in the state, who had requested the authorities to waive off or at least cut down on the high license fees. The government has paid heed to the demand, as it is clearly a Herculean task to kick-start tourism activities without hearing out the issues of the shack owners. The government has further approved the extension of the date of payment of the renewal fees and the new date is marked at December 31, 2020.
Festive season to come as a relief for businesses
Earlier, the annual beach shack fees had to be paid latest by the 10th of September and in case of a failure to do so, the applicant/beach shack owner wouldn’t be permitted to erect their shack at the allotted location. Now with the revised regulations, it’ll be a tad bit easier for the business owners to revive their financial loses, especially with the ongoing festive season.
Moreover, as per reports, the tourism department has also started the demarcation process of beach shacks along Goa’s North coastal belt, which includes Calangute, Candolim and Anjuna. The department officials are expecting this exercise to be completed within another two weeks.
The commencement of this area allotment system for the beach shacks, has given a major relief to many shack stakeholders as they have been waiting to resume their operations soon. The owners of the shacks are hopeful that they can get their shacks up and running, by the first week of November. As of now, the state is witnessing domestic tourists and this rebate will probably make up for the incurred losses due to the pandemic at hand.
