The future of tourism
Proposals to set up a Tourism Promotion Board to shape the future of Goa’s tourism industry ~ mooted by several stakeholders, including the CII, the government and industry bodies ~ have not come a day too soon. With illegal mining ensuring the State has taken a major revenue hit, it was left to tourism to shore up the economy. But the persistent recession in Europe saw numbers dip from traditional markets like the UK.
While domestic tourism and charters from Russia held up the numbers this year, there are subtle shifts in the direction of Goa’s tourism package that should be cause for some debate. Stakeholders and industry bodies are pointing out that Goa’s overdependence on the British market, that at one time constituted 80 per cent of charter arrivals into Goa, was unhealthy as dependence on any one market tends to be. Russian charters that in the past few seasons have slowly risen, have expanded the bouquet, and stakeholders are hoping newer markets in eastern and southern europe can be tapped and slowly built up.
What stakeholders seem to be concerned about, however, is the marketing pitch of the state as a brand and the reality of tourism segmentation on the ground. The reality of tourism systems in the field are rarely known or considered by policy framers in the department and the systems for consultation have been arbitrary and routed through periodic memoranda from trade bodies, rather than a more active partnership between planners and those shouldering the industry on the ground. Hopefully, the board when set up would create the environment for a healthier forward planning in the sector, that has a widespread impact on host villages as well, besides on trade and employment.
Worldwide trends have shown that the increase in east European traffic at a given destination is followed by a decline in north European traffic at that destination ~ a trend visible in Goa too. In 2010, UK tourists comprised 34 per cent of the toal overseas tourists while Russians made up 13 per cent of arrivals; In 2011, the UK numbers fell by 8 per cent to 26 per cent of arrivals as the Russian numbers climbed to 30 per cent of foreign arrivals. While domestic numbers have climbed significantly each year to 2.3 million in 2012 compared to the 0.4 million foreign tourists, what implications this will have on Goa’s tourism branding are questions that will increasingly come up.
Goa’s brand image as India’s favourite international destination, with a multinational and continental flavour, has long been the state’s USP. There are many in the trade who argue that the smattering of foreign-run businesses are what lend colour and variety to the state, while others tend to view these with suspicion. What is evident though is that the lack of a carefully considered and discussed direction is adversely affecting the industry.
Mass tourism multipliers planned in areas where boutique hotels are in operation can send the latter into a nosedive, for example. Tourism is a fickle industry at the mercy of several vagaries, it is true, but having hitched the state’s fortunes to it, planning cannot but be meticulous. For stakeholders~ both industry and residents~questions will arise from the considerable investments being projected and solicited in the sector.What effect will efforts to raise tourism numbers to six million annually have on the state, especially when these will most likely come from domestic markets? Are planners envisaging a Shimla/Mussorrie type situation for Goa? And what implications will this have on tourism management and tourism facility providers in Goa are questions that will inevitably have to be grappled with. Start now, we suggest.
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people’s edit
Of phobias and prejudiced minds
Augusto Monteiro
I always note that many a Goan politician to promote himself as a true patriot finds it necessary to show that he is anti-Portuguese and for that purpose treats as poison everything that is connected with Portugal.
And in accordance with that sort of trend, the honourable MLA, Mr Vishnu Wagh gave vent to his displeasure over the Lusofonia games because according to him in Goa we don’t speak Portuguese, but Konkani. A very accurate and correct statement. And he also said that the idea of holding the Lusofonia games in Goa was not an idea of the BJP government but of the previous Congress dispensation ~ but carefully avoided to add that at the point when the Lusofonia games was decided to be held in Goa, Mr Wagh was a full fledged Congress spokesperson. As citizens of this world it is out dated to live in isolation, brooding on things that happened centuries ago when colonization and slavery was a routine matter. It was a trend then and it is also now that the strongest dominate the weak. Therefore, because of disunity amongst us, outsiders dominated and ruled us. The atrocities committed by colonial rulers, the British and the Portuguese on our heritage and culture was not different but the massacre at Jallianwalla Bagh has no parallel in Goa’s colonial rule. And the British treated the Indians as second rate citizens in India and in any place in their colonies in Africa. However, Goans in Goa, in Portugal and in any Portuguese colony had the same status and respect like any other European citizen, with the right to hold any position in the judiciary or at the university level. There were no separate tables or separate routes etc like apartheid in British African colonies.
While Britain totally enslaved India and gave independence by the mischief of dividing India on religious grounds, we Indians boast of being members of the Commonwealth ~ an organization that represents a union of all British colonies with the British monarch as its head and thus we continue as “your obedient vassals”. Like Britain, Portugal had many colonies in Africa, China and Timor. Those countries have now gained independence and they have adopted Portuguese as their national language. Those counties along with Brazil form the largest group of people that speak the second-most widely spoken language in the world. All these Portuguese colonies are undeveloped and there is tremendous business potential. We as a country cannot jeopardize our business interests for what happened a thousand years back. We have to look forward and forget the past.
Mr Wagh represents St Andre constituency which has the largest number of migrants to Europe with Portuguese passports. That has not made their heart alien ~ they migrated for work and invested the money in St Andre. The palatial dwellings speak of the sacrifices of those migrants.
