MARGAO
When a Sarpanch along Salcete’s beach belt ordered a crackdown on illegal beach hawkers, he was surprised to receive a call from a Minister — who urged him not to target the migrant vendors.
Migrant hawkers selling handicrafts, painting tattoos, offering body massages, and more are not new to the popular beach destinations stretching from Cavelossim to Benaulim and Colva. For years, law-enforcement agencies have largely turned a blind eye to these activities. In the past, migrant hawkers and the police would play a game of hide-and-seek, even as the government insisted that hawking had no place on Goa’s beaches. Today, however, the beach belt is virtually overrun by touts selling anything and everything, increasingly becoming a menace and a nuisance to tourists.
Unchecked touting
Consider this: touts rounded up by Colva police just last month revealed that they were from Bihar. This incident is only the tip of the iceberg. Touts have become a common sight across the beach belt and access roads, aggressively pitching timeshare schemes, club and pub packages, photography services, and other tourism deals to unsuspecting visitors.
Their unchecked presence has alarmed tourism stakeholders, including beach shack operators and owners of small and medium hotels. Goa Beach Shack Owners Society president Cruz Cardozo has repeatedly warned that the growing tout culture is harming the tourism industry. “How can you allow touts selling timeshare and offering club and pub packages on the beach? I have videos proving that these touts have defrauded gullible tourists. The end result is that visitors leave Goa with bitter memories,” he said.
He added, “Taxi operators, who eke out a living from the taxi business, are often in the spotlight for various issues, yet these touts operate openly under the authorities’ noses, fleecing innocent visitors and getting away scot-free. This will only tarnish Goa’s image as a premier tourist destination.”
Eroding standards
Cavelossim Sarpanch Dixon Vaz has echoed similar sentiments. Vice-president of the Small and Medium Hotel Association of Goa, Dixon says that Goa’s famed hospitality and cuisine have been overshadowed by an emerging club-and-pub culture. According to him, this shift is one of the key reasons Goa no longer features prominently in the global market as a premium destination. “After the COVID-19 pandemic, global tourism changed drastically due to travel restrictions, and Goa became a major hub for ‘deshi’ tourists seeking late-night parties. This has damaged Goa’s tourism brand. Unless the government takes strict measures, the future of quality tourism in Goa looks bleak,” he warned.
Taxi trouble
The long-running tussle between tourist taxi operators serving starred hotels along Salcete’s coastal belt and the emerging app-based taxi aggregators shows no sign of ending. Caught in the crossfire are the tourists, who simply want the freedom to choose their preferred mode of transport — often bringing them into confrontation with local operators.
Local tourist taxi operators, however, continue to stress one central point: for whom does the tourism industry exist if not for the local community? Many argue that they cannot be sidelined in their own homeland. “Several hotels along the Salcete coast were established with the support of the local populace. Hotel managements promised that these projects would uplift the local economy by generating self-employment opportunities, including taxi business,” said taxi operator and former Varca Sarpanch Jose Afonso. “Now, outsiders want to encroach on our business and snatch our livelihood under the guise of app-based aggregators,” he added.
Another operator urged the government to step in and safeguard the livelihoods of local taxi drivers. “We have no issue with app-based aggregators operating in towns and cities, but taxi operations at hotels and resorts should remain with local, unemployed youth. If this balance is not maintained, it will only fuel social tensions,” he warned.
