The tourist season is nearly upon us, with the first set of foreign arrivals set to touch down on September 30, with the first charter flight of the season bringing in tourists from Russia in what is expected to be yet another year of subdued tourist arrivals, given global uncertainty that continues to pervade much of West Asia, Europe and beyond. Goa Airport at Dabolim also remains optimistic, saying it is scheduled to receive flights from Russian carrier Aeroflot as it seeks not to cede too much space to rival Manohar International Airport at Mopa.
But with the tourist season upon us, questions, many of them annual, have also resurfaced. Among them are questions about declining foreign arrivals, the government’s failure to deliver on clean, walkable streets especially in tourist areas, law and public order, destinations free of encroachments, unregistered hawkers and touts, besides the age-old saga of unregulated taxis.
What has become increasingly apparent, however, is that among these, the one that has the most impact on foreign tourist arrivals is cleanliness and orderliness. Frequent comparisons are drawn between Goa and Sri Lanka as well as with Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, among other south and south east Asian destinations to highlight how, despite these countries having income levels similar to that of India, their streets are clean, walkable and orderly, leaving a tourist with a feeling of being welcome.
Goa, by contrast, is, with each passing year, looking more and more like any other city in India with garbage, stray cattle and dogs, footpaths being either non-existent or encroached upon, a lack of respect for traffic rules, unsafe streets, scams greeting you around every corner, not to mention the harassment tourists face on the streets and the beaches.
None of these problems is particularly difficult to tackle, but for that to happen, they first need to be acknowledged by those in government, before we hope to get them sorted. Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte is keen to insist that his department is doing what it takes, but he is yet to explain why Goa is not getting the foreign tourist numbers, despite the fact that the State is doing global promotions and expos. Unfortunately, none of those global promos would work if the chaos back home is left unaddressed.
We need to clear the chaos first. Unless the department massively invests in streetside infrastructure, enforces discipline, and brings about reforms in the taxi system, one cannot expect things to change anytime soon. On the contrary, we would be only counting the numbers and taking solace in the marginal spikes of desi tourists. The "quality" over "quantity" goal can materialise only if there is a holistic change to make Goa a more welcoming destination. From infrastructure, facilities and services, everything needs an upgrade.
That said, tourism is not the responsibility of the Tourism Department alone. It has to be a collective objective. In a recent interview, the tourism minister was livid over not getting the needed support from police. Goa still attracts tourists, but it’s clear that its best days are behind it. It will require a paradigm shift for things to change for the better. The intent for that change, sadly, is not visible as of now.
