On Wednesday around 100 American tourists were in for a nasty surprise when a scuffle between taxi operators and the bus service that was supposed to take them site-seeing forced them to go back to their ship that was docked in Vasco.
While Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant are busy discussing ‘qualitative tourism’ to attract high-value tourists and bring the sector back on track, the recent ‘destructive tourism’ ruckus caused by taxi-men has cast Goa in a negative light.
It has been reported that the cruise ship ‘Ocean Odyssey’ will not return to Goa and a French cruise liner is on the verge of cancelling three voyages in January 2023.
The Chief Minister has already stated that those involved in the assault will be arrested if found guilty and such behaviour will not be tolerated. The CM needs to further make sure that stringent action is actually taken to gain the confidence of future cruise operators as it could affect many Goans that depend on tourism for their livelihoods.
