The new Tourism Minister has spoken of attracting high-end tourists to Goa, stating that this will be the department’s goal moving forward. This is not a new target but one that has been voiced several times in the past in different manners, but all aimed at the same – quality tourism. For Goa, that has experienced the ugly drawbacks of having busloads of tourists driving into the State, cooking on the roadside and sometimes even spending the nights in the bus, such a goal for tourism is definitely welcome. Who would not want a better type of tourist holidaying on Goa, especially the type that does not litter? There are, however, several issues involved that would have to be considered and some solution found before embarking on the plan.
For instance, over the decades Goa has been geared to mass tourism, with stakeholders repeatedly complaining of falling footfalls. Setting aside the pandemic downturn, the reason for the complaints of fewer tourists is because Goa has created hotel and restaurant infrastructure aimed at accommodating several thousand tourists, right from the backpackers to the high-end travellers and also catering to their food and leisure requirements. A sudden change to high-end tourism would require a massive uplift of the existing infrastructure, which could also send several thousand low-end hotels and restaurants to losses. This, Goa does not require, and unless there is an alternative for them, the State cannot embark on a quality tourism over quantity tourism promotion programme.
The immediate amended aim of quality tourism must be to put an end to the drive-in busloads of tourists for whom the bus they travel in is the restaurant as well as the hotel. If they come to Goa, they have to spend on rooms and on food, otherwise neither the State nor the industry will earn. Any business is run with the aim of making a profit. The tourists who do not spend on lodging and boarding are not helping the local economy in any manner whatsoever. If such tourism can be stopped as a first step, the minister and the government can then embark on the next step of quality tourism but with all measures to protect the small business owners from any losses that may occur.
Tourism will require much attention from the new minister. The State has to also sketch out its roadmap for tourism in a post-pandemic era. The current season will end next month which gives enough time to restructure the positioning of the State in the tourism sector before the new season starts in October. A specific marketing plan to meet the post-COVID challenges has to be drafted so that the State does not lag behind its competitors. It can even study the models developed by other countries and emulate these with tweaks to suit the local needs. One main lesson from the pandemic has been that numbers are not always the drivers of the industry. In that sense, the shift to quality tourism does hold good but it can’t be a drastic change.
Tourism already possesses a robust infrastructure, though it may not be aimed at the high-end tourists, it would have to be upgraded. Simultaneously, the focus should be on saving jobs and businesses, as tourism has been as an important driver of growth in the State. Quality tourism over quantity tourism could well be what the State requires, but the shift has to be a slow one to minimise the effect on the existing businesses that cannot upgrade. The State and the industry would have to weigh the advantages against the disadvantages before going for an all out attempt to change the profile of tourists who visit Goa.
