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Goa casinos to reopen on November 1, operators say it will take weeks go full steam
Operators say that since many of their staffers have returned home in different places, they will they will not be able to restart with only a few days’ notice and will take some weeks to be up and running.
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The Goa government has given the go-ahead to casinos in the state to restart operations which have been shut since March when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in the country.
Announcing the decision, Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant said Wednesday that the decision was taken with a view to “promote tourism activity in the state.”
“From November 1, we have given the casinos permissions to start. They will have to follow all the SOPs as will be issued to them by the Home Department and with 50% capacity they can start. We need to promote tourism activity,” Sawant said.
The casinos, which are a significant contributor to the state’s revenue, have been urging the government to allow the restart of operations, which they said would help boost the tourism arrivals in the state and provide an added attraction to tourists visiting the state.
Sawant also said that the casinos operators who would earlier pay their annual fees at a single time can now do so on a monthly basis.
There are six offshore casinos in Goa, boats anchored in the Mandovi river that flows by the capital city. Other casinos are located inside five star hotels.
The 19-year-old industry isn’t just a big draw for thousands of tourists but contributes around ₹300 crore to the state coffers in licence fees and around ₹90 crore per year as State GST.
From one offshore vessel which began operations in the year 1999, the state today has six gaming vessels that all float within a one-kilometre stretch of the Mandovi. Industry insiders reveal that each venue used to make a turnover of around ₹120-crore per year and drew 600-800 people per vessel, especially on weekends, before the lockdown threw a spanner in the works.
The casinos were shut earlier than other activity on account of crowding in closed spaces which is a significant risk of superspreading coronavirus.
Since the industry has been closed since March, many of the staff have gone back home. Operators believe that they will not be able to restart with only a few days’ notice and will take some weeks to be up and running.
