Goanet next meets in Goa on Jan 7 at 4 pm. Meeting point: Kala Academy Canteen, Panjim. Goanet founder Herman Carneiro will be there. See you too! ------------------------------ Allow Indian passport holders to travel on charters: NRIs
BY HERALD REPORTER http://www.oherald.com PANJIM, JAN 3 -- Mr Jerome Mendes, an experienced businessman in the UK having business concerns in Verna, has said that Indian passport holders should be allowed to travel on charter flights. Making a presentation at the tourism seminar as part of the Gomant Vishwa Sammelan at Kala Academy on Saturday, he said the Indian passport holders should be allowed to travel on charter flights. This will encourage many of the NRIs to fly frequently to Goa, he added. He said though official statements had been made, in the UK only "the wife accompanied by her husband is allowed travel with an Indian passport and not individually." He informed that many European citizens including the British have been asking if they could buy residential homes and businesses in Goa. On this issue, he said if in Europe, anyone can purchase a home if he is a resident, no matter what passport you hold. "Why can't Goa be the same," he asked. Describing Goa as Spain of India, Mr Mendes said Goa has great investment potential particularly in the tourism industry and added that if the present government continues to provide help and guidance to the NRIs on setting up industries like water parks, IT training centres, prawn farming, residential homes for NRIs, health tourism, etc, Goa would be a wonderful place to live in with successful business enterprises. Analysing the situation from the ground level, he said entertainment facilities available at present leave much to be desired and that apart from cruise rides and casinos, entertainment facilities are sadly lacking. He said the more common form of public entertainment like dances and shows are nowadays greatly hampered by rules and regulations regarding sound which restrict such functions to 10 pm. "The Goan ethos which thrives on its flair and love for music and dance is curbed by such restrictions." It is true that blatant misuse of sound at night has to be controlled but lack of equipment to measure the decibels gives petty officials and the police an opportunity to harass even smaller establishments catering to the tourist, he pointed out. He stressed that tourism is not just a big foreign exchange earner but the economy of Goa is dependent on tourism and tourism-related activities. For this, he said, serious efforts should be made to look at tourism in totality and not on a piece-meal basis. The plethora of rules which create more hurdles for the entrepreneur should be done away with and the rules simplified. What we need, he said, is not only infrastructure development and facilities but a change of attitude and mind-set in an ever growing world economy. "For my part, I am prepared to help any NRI with knowledge and experience of how to go about setting up businesses in Goa," he told the gathering. On the employment front, he wondered why Goa need to send its boys on cruise liners on one hand and import cooks, waiters and stewards from other states on the other. Mr Mendes' suggestion that the tourism department should encourage the 5-star hotels to employ Goans and pay a fair wage, was received with a loud applause. ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################