Change tourism
Dr Saidutt Kuvelkar
Various newspapers in Goa have published many articles and letters about what changes need to be made in the field of tourism in Goa. We Goans must seriously introspect on the following important points.
* Metered taxis will reduce the fare initially but the volume of usage by tourists and locals will increase once the rates are standardised.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
* Fewer shack beds will bring down earnings from bed rentals, but it will reduce congestion, and this will certainly be appreciated, if we are focusing on European clientele, and hence there will be better appreciation on bed rentals in the future.
* If we observe carefully, we will find that the majority of the five-star hotels located on the beaches of Goa, maintain their backyards which are cleaner than ours, not withstanding the money and effort we spend in doing the same .We must try to compliment this healthy cleanliness.
* Plastic water and/ or soft drink bottles are often thrown out of tourist taxis by tourists. The government must put together a set of instructions that must be strictly enforced and abided by all tourists and transport operators.
* A situation must be created whereby the police are not required to stop almost every tourist vehicle and harass travellers. Instead, in the case of two-wheelers, helmets must be made compulsory. In the case of four wheelers, no vehicles including those of current and former politicians should be permitted to sport tinted glasses.
* We must try and avoid politicizing the six –lane Pernem to Canacona highway and a bigger international airport . If local income has to increase from tourism ~ the number of tourists has to increase and one way to do so is to improve infrastructure.
* We should try and refrain from complaining about the influx of migrant labourers and workers in tourism and the construction industry and instead demand mandatory compliance of better hygienic and living conditions from their employers. If we as Indians can en masse immigrate to different countries of the world for better monetary gains and lifestyle, we as Indians can definitely tolerate fellow Indians who come to Goa in search of a better life for themselves and their families.
* Migrant workers employed by Goan entrepreneurs are seen dirtying beaches more than tourists. Can we teach them about the social and health hazards of such unhygienic behaviour?
* Can we courteously tell those who smoke in public that he can be fined heavily and without a warning and by police personnel in civilian clothes, because the anti-smoking act is in effect?
* We must warn tourists ~ both domestic and foreign ~ that our places of worship, irrespective of our religion, and women folk are sacred and therefore ogling at women or entering our places of worship in skimpy clothes, is not appreciated by respectable, multi-pluralistic communally harmonius Goans .
