PANAJI
In the face of the Goa government’s initiative to engage social media influencers for promotional efforts, the State grapples with a concerning trend. While attracting a large number of quality tourists has remained a distant dream, Goa continues to be marred by disturbing incidents with at least three such cases reported in this month itself.
A highly educated mother, an AI start-up founder from Bangalore Suchana Seth chose the destination to allegedly murder her four-year-old child. Another case involved a hotel manager’s wife from Uttar Pradesh, who, within three days of joining her husband Gaurav Katiyar in Goa, was ‘smothered to death in the sandy waters’ of Cabo De Rama beach.
The stakeholders conceded that as a tourist destination, such incidents attract attention, which negatively impacts marketing.
“Such incidents are detrimental, but how do we avoid them? Being a tourist hotspot, such coverage is inevitable,” President of the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa Nilesh Shah said.
TTAG Vice President Jack Sukhija and Past President Savio Messias echoed a similar sentiment, with the latter adding that Goa “ like many other tourism hubs -- becomes an attractive destination for those with criminal intentions who perceive it as an easy escape.
“If a person (who intends to commit a crime) selects a less frequented place, he/she will soon be under the radar of the residents there… tourist destinations get plenty of people and therefore, it is used as a bait to commit a crime,” Messias said, adding that popular destinations across the world are affected by this phenomenon.
Sukhija denied that such incidents affect tourism citing "crimes can be committed anywhere."
As Goa struggles to lure quality tourists unlike many of its competitors, alleged drugs and unruly visitors have also kept the trend of ‘sab kuch chalta hai’ attitude going. While reckless and drunken driving often has the involvement of tourists, the death of a Rajasthan-based event management owner during an alleged rave party is the latest example.
Drunk tourists also made headlines on the first two days of Sunburn EDM festival in December 2023.
Despite lack of a definitive solution, the stakeholders proposed a robust marketing strategy to counter the negativity. Stressing well-behaved tourists for sustaining tourism, Shah maintained that “little more efforts are needed” to strengthen marketing.
Messias, on the other hand, stated that while such incidents may not pose a direct threat, they require proactive measures to be effectively handled.
Another sitting TTAG member, wishing anonymity, slammed the lenient approach toward ill-mannered tourists claiming it could be encouraging criminals to commit crimes.
"There's news of tourists driving on the beach almost every week. If we act strictly, nobody will dare to even spit on the road, leave aside littering in public places and beaches. If the authorities across the departments coordinate to implement strict rules, no person will take Goa for granted," he said.
In a bizarre incident, a newlywed couple is heading for divorce as the wife complained she was taken on a pilgrimage trip instead of Goa for their honeymoon.
