Does Goa want tourism or not?
Harry Justice
My wife and I have been taking our annual holiday in Baga, Goa for the last four years. We always stay in modest accommodation near the beach and love mixing with the local people and enjoying the Indian culture. Each year we meet with other holiday makers who like us have been coming back to India for years. Over the last year or so we have all become concerned about the local government’s attitude to tourism. There has quite rightly been a crackdown on sellers on the beach, but I do feel this could be handled more efficiently and without holidaymakers having to be involved with groups of police chasing sellers around them on their sun beds. During our last holiday in February of this year we also had the disruption caused by the shacks not being allowed to put a sufficient number of sun beds out on the beach. I understand that this is because there are some issues concerning more free space being available for local people to enjoy the beach. Surely there can be a compromise where there are still a sufficient number of beds for tourists, but still leaving ample free space on the beach.
On several occasions during my last holiday I was forced to rapidly vacate my sun bed due to the local tourist police raiding the beach and on one occasion I awoke to find a group of police actually cutting up the beds next to me with a chainsaw.
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As well as trying to reduce the number of sellers, I also think the local government should concentrate more on educating the Indian holiday makers who are continually throwing glass bottles and other rubbish on the beach and in the water. This is at the very least unsightly and in the case of broken glass extremely dangerous. I usually walk along the beach from Baga to Calangute every day and I’m continually picking up rubbish and glass from the water’s edge. I notice that there does seem to be a rubbish truck that now comes along the beach each day, but there are still no rubbish bins for people to put their rubbish in.
If Goan authorities are serious about encouraging tourism, then I would suggest they need to start treating them with respect and doing everything they can to ensure they enjoy their stay and want to come back again in the future. It’s true to say that we come to Goa for the sun and beach but we also want to enjoy the local culture and feel that our presence is welcomed and valued by the Indian people.
It’s a shame but my wife and I, plus many of our friends are now thinking about going somewhere else next year. I feel very sad about this as we love Goa, the local people and their culture, but there are many other countries that seem to value tourism a lot more.
If the local Goan government really wants to encourage and develop tourism, then they need to do something now, as once people find an alternative holiday venue, it can be very hard to get them back again.
