A group of 100 American tourists who arrived at the Mormugao port in Goa could not proceed on a sight-seeing trip after taxi operators stopped them from boarding designated buses, following which police began a probe, officials said on Thursday.

The incident took place on Wednesday and cruise operators met chief minister Pramod Sawant to lodge a protest claiming such incidents would damage the tourism-friendly image and potential of the coastal state.

“A group of taxi drivers stopped buses that had gone to the port to pick up some 100 tourists from the US. They had arrived on the cruise ship Ocean Odyssey. The tourists had to walk almost a kilometre to get to the buses but had to return to the ship,” Francis Vaz of the tour operating firm Le Passage to India said.

“There was also a scuffle between taxi operators and a bus driver. Mormugao police had to intervene but the arrogant taxi operators refused to back down. The American tourists had to cancel their sight-seeing trip. The ship left for Kochi in Kerala on Thursday,” he added.

After meeting tour operators and other stakeholders from the tourism sector, Sawant on Thursday told reporters an inquiry was underway and action would be taken. Such incidents will not be tolerated, the chief minister said, adding that the police had been directed to arrest those involved in the alleged assault on the bus driver.

A “preventive action report” will be sent to the higher authorities against the taxi operators, Mormugao police station in-charge Raghoba Kamat said.