Quality tourists, not quantity, please
Four Ukrainian women braved sub-zero temperatures this week to go topless, climb the balcony of the Indian envoy’s residence in Kiev with placards denouncing the Indian government’s tightening of visa rules by the Indian mission in Kiev for Ukrainian women in the 15-40 age group.
Reportedly, the women’s ire followed news report that the mission had branded all Ukrainian women in the 15-40 age group as prostitutes. The report suggests that the tightening of visa rules was being done to keep sex workers away from entering India.
Whatever the reality, the fact remains that tourist visas issued to Ukrainians had gone up over the last few months and the mission had clarified that “no discrimination” was being practiced against Ukrainian women applying for visas to travel to India.
Statistics for the 2010-11 season reveal that 889 charter flights arrived in Goa bringing 1.71 lakh tourists. Russians topped the tourist arrivals at 87,921 passengers, while tourists from the UK ranked second at 57,848.
While the news report which triggered the protest appears to be questionable — considering that all women cannot be painted with the same brush — recent trends in the state indicate increasing instances of younger generation of tourists/foreigners resorting to sex-oriented business in Goa.
Regular reports of police raids and arrests of women involved in sex trade carried under the garb of massage and beauty parlours cannot be denied. The tragedy of it all is that the business is not restricted to the coastal areas alone, with pimps and `madams’ raking in the profits at the cost of the workers who arrive here in an effort to eke out a living — some of them deceived and forced into the business.
It cannot be denied that Goa is witnessing an influx of questionable female `tourists’ from Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Chechnya and Kyrgyzstan apart from other parts of the country, even Europe.
At present, the Indian government is granting a six month visa for tourist and business, comparing to three months earlier. This itself ought to be welcomed by the foreigners, considering that our people seeking to go to some countries have to undergo several interviews before being “eligible” to travel to that country. India has, over the years, been treated as some sub-standard destination, but now that the world is realizing its worth, it ough to put up its price.
We have seen how rejects of some societies have triggered adverse publicity to tourism in the state, projecting our coastline as an unsafe destination, after wayward upbringing of kids eventually led to death of a foreigner due to drug overdose. This would not have materalised had we been selective in attracting tourists. Moreover, Goa has the reputation of being a favourite haunt for international criminals.
We have seen how Russians have cornered parts of Goa, where locals have turned out to be virtual foreigners. In quest of the lure of lucre, the administrators of tourism industry must not be blinded to the social mores. Free access would eventually end in a cultural clash with locals, not to mention the security dilemma. And for this, it will be the locals who will eventually have to pay the most.
