Panaji, Apr 11 (TOI): Stakeholders of the state’s tourism industry on Tuesday urged chief secretary Dharmendra Sharma, who is also principal secretary, tourism, to push for the setting up of a single-window clearance system for beach weddings and other such events. Organisers, they said, are presently made to run from pillar to post to get the required NOCs and can’t usually proceed until numerous permissions are obtained. What’s worse is that there is no guarantee that approvals will be granted within a fixed time-frame, they added.

“Thus, unlike destinations like Rajasthan or Kerala, which are popular for weddings, festivals, and other such events, event organisers and hoteliers in Goa don’t enjoy ease of doing business,” a stakeholder said.

President of the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) Savio Messias, said organisers of conferences, weddings, or any such event have to obtain NOCs for each even if they are held at the same venue. “An organiser has to obtain permission to play amplified music from the collector, clearance from the CRZ authority in case the hotel is located within 500m of the high tide line, an NOC from the tourism department in case the event falls into particular category, and police clearance, too,” he said.

The TTAG suggested that permissions be granted to hotels and resorts for all activities on a yearly basis. It also requested the government to make a provision for starred hotels to get blanket permission for six to nine months in a bid to make the process faster, transparent and simple.