MARGAO
Where have all the desi tourists gone? Have they headed to the North Goa beach belt to usher in the New Year? These and other questions came to the fore as the hustle and bustle suddenly went missing on the iconic Colva beach, leaving the stakeholders high and dry.
The men-in-uniform, which have put in place elaborate traffic and security arrangements in and around the world class beach, too confirmed that Colva did not witness the anticipated rush of the domestic tourists on New Year’s Eve.
Be it the water sports operators, beach shack owners or the nearby owners of restaurants and small time business activity, they all were taken aback by the poor turnout of domestic tourists on the Colva beach on the last day of the year.
There was much anticipation from the local stakeholders that domestic tourists will inundate the world famous Colva beach to usher in the New Year. Their expectations were not totally unfounded given that domestic tourists had come in droves to the beach during the Christmas season this year despite the Covid pandemic.
In normal times, Colva beach plays host to thousands of domestic tourists on the eve of New Year. Even Wednesday had seen a rush of tourists to the world famous beach, ringing in good news for the local stakeholders.
Till 6 pm on Thursday, the time when visitors flock to the beach to view the sun setting for the last time of the year, there were hardly any tourists around.
The water sports operators, which made good business during the last few days, were lying idle on the last day of the year, anxiously waiting for customers for a boat ride. Further compounding the problem for the water sports operators was the breeze that was not conducive for para-gliding on the beach.
A water sports operator, Constancio told The Goan there were hardly any visitors to the beach on Thursday. “Some of the operators anchored the boats for want of customers and business. Thursday was a bad day for the operators”, he added.
The beach shacks and beach beds wore a deserted look around Thursday evening and the stakeholders were only hoping against hope that visitors may come on the beach later in the evening.
Colva police station in-charge, PI Melson Colaco informed that the anticipated rush of tourists at Colva went missing till Thursday evening. He, however, said the police would maintain the arrangements put in place to handle the visitors.
The Colva police had notified the Margao-Colva road as one way traffic between Colva four roads junction to the beach. Parking areas were also notified in the village, anticipating a heavy turn up of visitors.
PI Melson pointed out that the arrangements put in place by the police will be in place as per the notification, in anticipation of crowds thronging Colva during midnight.
