Later this week the new tourism season will officially get off to a start. While stakeholders will increase their tariffs and rates for the season, restaurants and hotels that have been closed will raise their shutters, and charter flights will begin to land at the airport, Goa has to get prepared to give the tourists a holiday from which they will take back good memories. On World Tourism Day, that will be observed on Tuesday, the tourism stakeholders can perhaps take an oath to ensure that those who come visiting Goa will return home promoting this State and sending relatives and friends to holiday on the beaches of Goa.
This is important because, while Goa is a tourism State attracting tourists from across the world, recent events give rise to the question of whether it is a tourism friendly State? A large number of tourists who ride along the roads of Goa on rented two-wheelers would answer this question in the negative. Many have. In the past few days Herald met with tourists who on their rides around the State have been stopped by traffic policemen and been asked to produce their driving licences and other vehicle documents. Almost all the tourists Herald met with complained of harassment by the traffic police. Some, policemen in neighbouring states, censured their counterparts in Goa and said they do not harass Goans in their States because they consider them guests. One policeman from another State actually used the word ‘loot’ to describe what the traffic cops in Goa do to tourists. That’s quite an indictment of the traffic police of Goa and also indicates that the reputation has spread.
Though the police department refutes this saying that they go by the offence and not whether the rider is a local person or a tourist, a quick survey by Herald on NH 17 at Porvorim found the police flagging down more yellow number plated two-wheelers ridden by tourists than scooter or motorcycles ridden by locals. A traffic cop on the street also admitted to the Herald team that they do stop more tourists than locals. There is absolute need for the men in uniform to be more courteous to tourists in the State. Instead the traffic police are getting trolled online for their behaviour towards tourists giving the State a bad name.
The tourist who visits Goa must be treated as a guest and helped along on his journey. The reputation of Goa as a tourist friendly State cannot be allowed to be harmed by a few traffic cops standing on the streets and waving down tourists. Tourism today is the largest industry and employer in Goa, but is also a fragile industry that can lose footfalls at the slightest of provocations. Goa depends almost totally on domestic tourists to maintain the numbers and keep the industry wheels turning, they cannot be rubbed the wrong way. But, it is not just with traffic policemen that tourists have issues with when holidaying in Goa. There are other grouses. Overcharging by taxis is another problem and though the government has often proposed to fix meters in taxis, it has somehow not got down to doing so.
All that has to change. Goa needs to present a refurbished image to the tourists, and the traffic cops have a role to play in this. Any indictment of the traffic policemen by tourism is not good for the industry. It reflects poorly on the State and on its tourism industry and that cannot be allowed to happen.
