21 Oct 2020  |   04:23am IST

Will the iconic Goan shack, fade into history? Not yet, feel stakeholders

Will the shack survive these strange times? With licenses being delayed there is a strong possibility tourists may be able to enjoy this unique experience for a very short time. In addition the protocols in place are very strict. Café spoke to various members of the hospitality industry to gauge reactions
Will the iconic Goan shack, fade into history? Not yet, feel stakeholders

Ajit John

It is something that has been a constant on the landscape of the state. The shack has a presence on the beach from the seventies. The early arrivals, the hippies were served food by the locals from these outlets which were few and far in between. The boom in tourism in the ’80s and the 90s witnessed a proliferation in the number of shacks on the beach. It generated jobs as well as revenue for everyone. Everyone was happy and dancing their way to the local bank. Then 2020 happened and the virus said hello. It decimated the industry. The staff left in droves, the tourists stayed away and the market did not recover. Does it now mean the shack will become a thing of the past? Now with protocols in place, the shacks will have to operate within those limits. 

People involved in the tourism industry had their viewpoint. Maria Victor who conducts walks for tourists said the shacks have become synonymous to Goan beaches. She said “The shacks were initially set up by the coastal communities to cater to the hippies.  As tourism boomed these shacks become a key attraction in the tourism narrative. What followed were overcrowded beaches, unsustainable expansion of shacks, and destruction coastal ecology. The need of the hour is to bring in strict regulation on waste management, noise pollution and CRZ compliance. Moreover, there should be an increasing awareness and willingness from the local communities to adopt sustainable practices”. She ended by saying the shacks would survive but would have to learn to adapt to the times. They would she said not die out because they were part of the Goan experience. 

Nilita Coelho who specialises in providing interesting tourism experiences in Goa said the shacks would not fade out. She said “This is one year when everyone has experienced setbacks. Even if the foreign tourists don’t turn up the number of domestic tourists coming in will solve the problem. I think it would make sense to reduce the number of shacks because it can be safely said no one will conduct business as they did in the past. Definitely, the charters will not come. We will all have to bear and survive. The shacks will survive this, of that there is no doubt.” 

Parag Rangnekar an ecologist who conducts wildlife and birding tours in Goa and the rest of the country. He said “I don’t think the shacks will die out. It is a in between kind of a period. Give it time it will pick up. The Goan beaches will look empty without shacks. It is however a great time for the government to put systems in place. In Morjim, the shacks approach the high tide line and it is not unusual for the water to come right in. It is important that the laws of the land are respected. In the name of tourism one cannot harm the natural landscape” 

Aditya Mukharji who is involved in sustainable tourism in Goa and Ladakh felt the shacks were an integral part of the Goan tourism experience. He said “Yes there are problems but it will never fade away. There were problems with waste management which cannot be ignored but the technology used was not right. This year will be very tough but the shacks will survive of that there is no doubt”. 

Pooja Mitra who is involved in marine wildlife tourism felt it would be hard to say if the shacks would become a memory. She said “People are losing jobs and disposable income is scarce, in such a situation, going on a holiday is the last thing on people’s minds. This I think will be a problem for the next two years. Holidays are the least important now. The future she said would be knowledge-driven and if just speculating if the customers would come made no sense. It would she said be up to everyone to add value to the experience. That she felt would hold them in good stead in the future. 

The future will be interesting and the shack will face great hurdles in surviving.  Perhaps one could safely predict the number of shacks may reduce due to the changing economies of the future.  


IDhar UDHAR

Idhar Udhar