Capping food prices in Goa is a joke: Stakeholders

Goa's travel and tourism stakeholders on Friday trained their guns on Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar for not doing enough to improve tourism footfalls while slamming a government proposal to cap food prices in restaurants and beach shacks in Goa.

"Capping food prices, I would consider a joke. Can anybody cap the prices of food?" Savio Messias, President of the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG), told the media.

After Goa saw a dip in the number of tourist arrivals for the second-year running, Ajgaonkar said that the tourism ministry was working on a mechanism to enforce capping of prices on menus in shacks and restaurants.

Any restaurant or shack which prices food and beverages above Rs 500 would be fined according to the proposed plan, Ajgaonkar had said.

Beach shack operators have already opposed the move to cap food item prices on their menus.

While provisional figures of tourist arrivals have not been released by the Tourism Ministry for the 2018-19 tourism season, hoteliers and travel industry experts have pegged a fall in footfalls to the tune of 30-35 per cent.

Goa is known for its beach and nightlife tourism and attracts more than seven million tourists every year, half a million of which are foreigners. Goa's tourism season starts in October and ends in March.

--IANS

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