Dr Joe D’Souza
Come September, each year, we in India in general and Goa particularly celebrate the World Tourism Day. Tourism in Goa seems to be in the dumps today. Thomas Cook Pvt Ltd, a renowned travel company, chartering over dozens of flights to our country and bringing in thousands of tourists has collapsed. Many of the bookings made through this company stand cancelled leaving many high and dry. Hotel bookings in the State have been cancelled. The Goan hospitality industry is looking at an abyss even before the tourist season has begun.
The last week of September, in particular, is earmarked for celebrating and promoting tourism in our country with the activities peaking off on September 27, each year. This year, too, we will allocate a budget to promote tourism-related promotional events, oblivious to the ground realities of the hospitality industry, which is considered as the backbone of our economy. Thanks to the sandy beaches along our 105 km long coast, Goa still holds sway and attracts tourists.
From the Goa of the eighties to 2019, a lot seems to have changed. Today, the State has slumped from being a paradise on Earth to a living hell both for the visiting tourists as well as the marginalised locals. Those on the coast are facing the brunt of haphazard tourism which is disseminating across the length and breadth of this once beautiful state, known as “the pearl in the Indian crown”.
If one diligently does serious research on the contribution of tourism to Goa, particularly its growth and economy, the fact remains that Goan tourism industry is today largely in control of migrants, who, today, are guiding and directing the hospitality industry. The owners, waiters, administrative staff and even ancillary service providers are not from Goa.
One hotel owner, who is my friend, went on to tell me that most of the bookings in his hotel are controlled through bookings by service providers like MakeMyTrip.
The large-scale economic manipulations involved in the business of hotel bookings, service providers, discounts afforded all truly go to fill the pockets of the outstation operators. The moot point to ponder about is the process of digital manipulation. Goans do not prefer digital mode as they are incompetent and are not well versed with banking adjustments.
Look at the Goa of today: Our taxi owners do not want meters or outside competition, our shack owners do not want to be regulated by the coastal zone regulations, our ministers and the government officials want to go for foreign jaunts to promote tourism.
We all know that every year, our State spends lavishly to organise Shigmo and Carnival festivities. That some part of the money is pocketed in the name of tourism promotion is another aspect which is better not discussed here. But, honestly, in a way do these festivals help us to take care of our garbage problem and keep our rivers clear and clean?
Those of us who are in the know of what’s happening in the tourism sector must be aware that the government wants to identify our Goan beaches for “Blue Flag certification”. During the stakeholders’ meeting held in the Science Centre in the week gone by, Miramar beach was identified for the certification by the local government as well as central government departments.
While Miramar was identified to be certified as a “Blue Flag Beach”, the Government of Goa has not done any homework to ensure that the St Inez Creek, which blatantly discharges sewage into the river Mandovi, doesn’t find any mention in the government’s touristic scheme of things.
The tourism industry is a double-edged sword. We may mistake it as a cash cow or a money tree designed to generate wealth. Sadly, tourism is not a one-track train to make money. To generate wealth we must also invest money to attract high-end tourists, which are shunning Goa due to our polluted beaches and rivers brimming with pathogenic bacteria from sewage releases.
To add salt to injury our Ramponkars are uneasy about the “Blue Flag Certification”. This global environmental label is awarded by the Foundation for Environmental Education, Denmark, to beaches and marinas that meet stringent standards, including high water quality, safety and good facilities. It has already certified over 250 beaches in Europe alone, especially in Spain.
We shun and protest against this certification of our beaches as safe, clean and secure because we, paradoxically, like tourists who are backpackers dealing in drugs and trade and who come here to do business in the local flea markets.
It is time for the average Goan to wake up from deep slumber and act judiciously to save himself from the policies which are taking the State’s tourism in an altogether different direction.
We must offer the tourists, who today prefer Sri Lanka, Kerala, Thailand or even Turkey or Egypt, a better deal in terms of competitive hotel tariffs, good road connectivity, and attractive leisure and adventure activities centred around making their stay memorable and exciting.
Or else, like mining, we would soon have to say goodbye to the hospitality sector in Goa, forever.
