For the past week, the media has been receiving various ‘updates’ about the visit of the Water Resources Minister Vinod Palyekar to St Petersburg in Russia. The purpose his visit remains ambiguous because  the updates seem to suggest that he is engaging in some official work including a visit to Consulate General of India. A video of him giving a speech on Independence Day where he asked more Russians to visit Goa, was sent on whats app by one of his political aides who too has travelled with him.

But the purpose declared is that he is on a private tour, which again brings into question if the necessary protocols were followed before he left the country as minister..

Comments made by a first time Goa MLA and Minister, Vinod Palyekar, in the Indian Consulate General at St Petersburg, after participating in the Independence Day flag hoisting ceremony, are no longer private remarks but assume an official status. The big ask here is that whether the minister was stating Goa’s official policy on the issue of asking more Russians to come to Goa or not and more so was he authorised to make such a comment.

The point here is that with regard to matters of tourism, there are too many voices on the table but no uniform policy on the kind of tourism Goa really wants. This uniformity needs to searched for and then shared with all tourism stakeholders. 

But more importantly, the foundation on which Goa’s tourism needs to be built or rebuilt, needs to be clear and transparent to all in the government, so that every statement emerging on tourism in Goa, is a part of its founding principles.

The needs of Goa’s tourism will be well served if there’s a fully focussed policy or white paper on an annual basis. It needs to address the twin needs of the local population, the stakeholders of the tourism business and balance it with the needs of tourists which largely centre around safety, lodging and transport. And a clear direction needs to be displayed on both these issues. Family members of those foreigners whose relatives have died under very suspicious circumstances or killed have moved the Prime Minister’s office  and are now united in exhausting all forums to press the Indian authorities to act swiftly and close the investigations into the deaths of their loved ones.

Moreover the policy must be more inclusive and present Goa as a destination and make an attempt to scatter footfalls around the states across all its regions, instead of making Goa a destination of the Northern and the southern coastal strips. And it is time that other wings of government and society are brought in board so that Goa’s handicrafts, art, music, food, culture, theatre and dances, become draws.

Firstly, all tourists must be made to feel welcome but not at the cost of violating the sanctity and peace of the local community. Russians, or for that matter, all tourist are welcome. But there have been cases of Russians running beach side properties by proxy and investing in real estate through front or shell companies. Then there are vast plethora of “international” DJ’s including those from Russian and Baltic states playing in many of the rave and trance parties which have no legal clearances. Goa’s tourism policy paper should state that if they do paid work Goa, on other visas, the state will move the centre to not just cancel but impose a five year moratorium on violators to come to India/Goa again.

For instance, at a time when Goa is reeling under the menace of drugs found in venues of electronic music festival, a fact admitted to by Goa’s Chief Minister, the tourism department is giving finishing touches to allowing a new Electronic and dance music organiser from Guajart to come organise an EDM festival on December 28 and 29, the very dates the government had objected to when it decided to discontinue with Sunburn and Supersonic, the twin mega EDM’s that have moved out of Goa. The venue for the new event proposed is opposite the Hilltop restaurant and club in little Vagator,  where one of the suspected drug- related deaths during the just concluded long weekend took place. This again is a complete deviation from the earlier tourism minister saying that EDM’s need to be moved out of this belt and proposed to be held elsewhere to decongest this belt.

At the root of this mess and confusion lies a reality. The tourism policy makers in government don’t quite know, what is the direction it must take for long term, sustainable tourism where  the visitors and the locals are both satisfied. When rave parties are allowed, very often on Government land and to organisers who may merely possess a restaurant licence for a property situated away from the party venue, it is assumed that there is a tacit approval. Therefore, a clear policy with go and no go areas demarcated needs to be on the table.

Importantly, the feeling of many locals that they are getting pushed to the fringes of tourism and at times pushed over, as the face of tourism Goa is becoming alien, has to be addressed and solved. 

Completely alien set of people from outside Goa and India seem to have taken control of virtually every tourism asset in the land and controlling and dominating the system. The fears and the hurt of families in Calangute, Baga, Siolim, Morjim and even Canacona of being consumed by what they call the beast of tourism have to be assuaged.