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The decline of tourism in Goa is a complex issue with multiple factors at play. While realists suggest a significant drop in foreign tourists, with only 1.5 million visiting Goa in 2023 compared to 8.5 million in 2019, optimists argue that the situation isn’t as dire. Recovery, they claim, is around the corner and the finishing touches of recovery are being done.
It is postulated that for the competitiveness of a tourism destination to stay unbroken and complete, there must be constancy in its capacity to safeguard its natural, cultural, human, man-made and capital resources. Does Goan tourism comply with this hallmark? If tourism in Goa were to audit its proficiency to develop and deliver quality, innovative, ethical and attractive tourism products and services in order to achieve a sustainable growth, tourism policy makers would find themselves having to contend multiple deficits. Faulty tourism planning that causes overtourism create negative impacts that distress local communities, environment, and long-term sustainability of tourism. Factors like lack of regulation, unsustainable growth, and a failure to balance economic benefits with community well-being. Other challenges include infrastructure issues, operational bottlenecks, and the erosion of cultural values.
A destination emerges as a potential tourism creation when it rises to claim certain essential attributes. These embrace natural attributes, cultural and historical significance, wildlife and flora, heritage sites, typical customs and traditions, distinct cuisine, transport and accommodations, adventures, and water sports, safety, and accessibility, beach traditions, and historical sites. Each of these are distinctly within the possibilities Goa can offer many of these as its tourism fruitage. An added advantage is that Goa is a small state with a total area of 3,702 square kilometres and a population of around 1.5 million. Small makes it more manageable.
The arrival of hippies in Goa in the 1960s is often cited as the defining moment in the inception of international tourism. This influx of hippies, seeking a different life and a peaceful milieu, led to the growth of a new kind of tourism in Goa. When the first generation of hippies returned home with their narrative of the Goan experience it prompted many more takers to voyage to Goa. The “second band of hippies” in Goa followed the initial group who established the scene, particularly in Anjuna and Arambol, in the late 1960s. Yertward Mazamanian best known as “Eight-Finger Eddie” was an American businessman and former bass player is credited with popularizing Goa. The hippie scene soon expanded and a second wave brought new ideas, music (like psytrance), and a continued focus on spiritual exploration and a different way of life.
Hippie tourism was a psycho-sociological phenomenon characterized by encounters between the traveller and hosts. The life styles of visitor were characterized by simplicity rather than sophisticated notions of contemporary tourism. The local hosts were unpretentious; as were the visitors. In the 1960s and 1970s, traditional occupations along the Goan coastline were focused on subsistence and resource extraction. Fishing, coconut husking, and rice cultivation were common ways of life. Other traditional occupations included coconut plantations, cashew plantations, betel nut plantations, and the production of feni, a Goan spirit. The tourist was content to live with their host, share their food, adopt their life styles of traditional ‘ukde’ rice a traditional variety of rice that is parboiled which is soaked, steamed, dried with the husk. It was a variant from polished rice and visitors and locals saw its nutritive value, distinct flavor and fluffy texture when cooked. It is often used in preparations like “Pez” (Kanji), a healthy supplementary food. The parboiling process involves soaking, steaming, and drying the rice with the husk on coupled with fish curry spruced farm-fresh local vegetables. Ukde rice is cereal-pulse which retains the nutrients of the husk, provides energy due to its high carbohydrate content. Health-wise, it stabilised blood sugar levels due to the parboiling process. Soon locals enhanced their services with modern value-added amenities such as refrigerators for cold drinks and a modest living space. The significance of the host-visitor encounter was a natural human encounter.
By the eighties, much had altered. The hippie movement with its ideals of no-war, no-materialism had faded. Those who see resemble a hippie today are a pale shadow of a bygone era of romantic idealism. Those who followed – the “yuppies” – abandoned simple-living and sought to be upwardly mobile folk obsessed with material objects and financial success. Their quantifiable needs were higher. Better guest houses, high-end hotels, and luxury.
Enter the corporate eyeing sheer profit. Five-star hotels emerged. The first five-star, India’s first luxury beach resort, was the Taj Fort Aguada Resort & Spa, which opened in December 1974. It transformed Goa into a global tourism hotspot. ITC hotel division soon acquired its first luxury property in Goa, one of India’s top tourism destinations soon acquiring the Ramada Caravela Beach Resort from Advani Hotels & Resorts at a cost of Rs 700 crore according to people with direct knowledge of the negotiations. Today, that number has climbed to roughly 28 hotels across Goa. Alongside came 12 resorts, also under the rubric of the high-end variety.
The trend: ‘Small-is-beautiful’ emerged with a spike in Small and medium-sized guest houses in Goa. These are uniquely designed to offer a more intimate and personalized experience compared to larger hotels. They provide a relaxed atmosphere, allowing travellers to immerse themselves in the local culture and offer a relaxed stay. They are more affordable and come with a balance of price and comfort. They do not attract incentives from the government unlike 5-start hotels and Resorts who get massive handouts such as tax holidays. In fact, SMEs fend for themselves, obtain loans on commercial interest, and pay fees for amenities without subsidies. While the 5-star entertain visitors from overseas and other major cities, book visitors in a tour package that is paid for overseas or other major cities, the bring in a mere fraction of the amount paid in. This leads to income leakage that allows for the company of origin to skim off profits. Political economists point to the injustice of this phenomenon. Studies, yet to be authenticated, reveal that in pre-booked reservations, it is the airlines and outside entities (multinational and big business) who make the big bucks. A paltry 13% reach the local entrepreneurs. They purchase food, linen, and all essentials from the local market and are the State’s biggest sources of income. By contrast, the 5-star businesses are a drain on local revenue because their purchases are from their mother countries/cities.
Yet, the government obstinately favours the big. A closer examination of the socio-economic phenomenon of tourism policy in Goa exposes it as undemocratic and/or elitist. The Travel and Tourist Association of Goa sees, as one of its goals, the elimination of small enterprises including local transport. The best policy options for public transport are shot down by government and bid business only to open up spaces for the rich who have the capital to buy cars in the ‘Rent-a-Cab’ scheme. Local taxi operators come from economic circumstances and struggle to eke out a living even during high season. The Government refuses to budge to the logic that if the locals do not benefit, tourism as a livelihood is rendered futile.
The TTAG finds it convenient to blame what they coarsely refer to as the “taxi mafia” and have never had the humility to go to a taxi-stand and dialogue with the taxi operators. This writer was part of a team that allied with the MSME sectors to create a level playing field and to seek policy that would allow space for the 5-star but ensure preference for the SMEs who offer homely services to their guests. When the tour package is done, it is the SMEs and taxis who offer care to the tourist who falls ill. This is not in the 5-star or resort culture. The Small and medium and the taxi operator sacrificially serve. The TTAG and Ministry of Tourism cannot comprehend such values.
Tourism is not in decline owing to the Ukraine war as falsely claimed. Rising costs of food and accommodation, overcrowding, garbage and stench-filled beaches, privatization of beaches by 5-stars, growing crime, violence, poor policing, erosion of Goan cultural values, drugs, security issues, money laundering, casinos which tacitly bring in the mafias are the causes. The horrific remnants of these practices are what the locals inherit.
Faulty tourism planning and other deficits, like overtourism, can lead to negative impacts on local communities, the environment, and the long-term sustainability of tourism. These issues arise from factors like lack of regulation, unsustainable growth, and a failure to balance economic benefits with community well-being. Other challenges include infrastructure issues, operational bottlenecks, and the erosion of cultural values.
There is also the fallout of the cruise ships docking on shore. Cruise ships that dock in Goa, like elsewhere, can generate solid sewage issues. While cruise ships typically have onboard sewage treatment systems, they still produce significant amounts of waste, including solid waste like plastics, paper, and food. When a cruise ship docks in Goa, this solid waste is carelessly managed and disposed of leaving a plethora of environmental problems. This includes the eco-system damage created by the casinos on the Mandovi River. Goans want their ecological sanity rather than the sewage of the cruise.
The Tourism Ministry, ignores the concept of tourist carrying capacity. If tourists are shifting loyalties to ‘Alternative Destinations’, Goa’s Tourism planners should not fake surprise. Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Indonesia have become increasingly popular among Indian tourists, offering more affordable and ideal options. The government shifts blame on ‘influencers rather than scrutinise its clumsy policy with radical alternatives.
The challenges facing Goa’s tourism industry are multifaceted and deeply ingrained. At the root of these issues lies government ineptness and failure to understand the potentials SME entrepreneurs. By neglecting the needs of small and medium-sized businesses, the government has stifled innovation, creativity, and sustainable growth in the tourism sector. To revitalize Goa’s tourism industry, it is imperative that the government takes a proactive role in fostering SME entrepreneurship. To democratize tourism is a huge tactical challenge, and an imperative to restore Goa’s tourism to its best in quantitative and qualitative terms.
Ultimately, the future of Goa’s tourism industry depends on the government’s willingness to listen to the needs of its stakeholders, including SME entrepreneurs, and to take decisive action to address the challenges facing the sector. By engaging stakeholders at the grassroots, Goa’s tourism industry could regain its status as a vibrant and sustainable driver of economic growth for generations to come.
* The author has worked as General Secretary of the Ecumenical Coalition on Third World Tourism, a Global network with a focus on justice in tourism and the protection of human rights of workers, and eco-justice. He helped found the centre for Responsible Tourism, a project of Caritas-Goa and the Council for Social Justice and Peace.
He can be contacted at: Ranjan.solomon@gmail.com/ Mobile: 9881181350
These pieces are being published as they have been received – they have not been edited/fact-checked by ThePrint.