Bread, butter tourism!
By
| 30 Oct, 2014, 01:35AM IST
Who
in the world has not heard of Goa? When you say you are from Goa, the
other person instinctively smiles and says with a glint in his/her eye,
“Yes, Goa!” with a longing sigh. Such is the reception a Goan gets when
introducing oneself to others in most parts of the world. Yet, it is
with a heavy heart that I write this article about my beloved Goa.
Goa
is beautiful, it is green, unique, different and vibrant. The people
are easy going, cheerful, social, friendly and always welcoming. Our
culture is different from the rest of India, more so because we were
ruled by the Portuguese instead of the British, and gained our
independence much later. That’s what contributes to making us different.
There is a charm about Goa that attracts, but will it continue for
long? I wonder.
Bali
reminds me so much about Goa – verdant green, village atmosphere, beach
shacks, easy going people. But the similarities end there. So what is
different? The hassle free holidays, no one out to cheat you, everything
is cheap and affordable and everything is organised.
So
if tourism is Goa’s bread and butter and its attraction, should we not
capitalize on it so that we can all benefit from it in the long run?
Let’s understand some of the areas, which can easily be fixed and
quality standards put in place so that Goa will continue to be an
attraction for decades to come.
Our
Heritage: as mentioned earlier we have a rich and unique heritage. We
have beautiful old bungalows, churches, temples, forts, etc. These need
to be conserved, maintained and protected so that future generations can
also experience our history first hand.
Local
transportation: which should be cheap and convenient is non existent in
Goa. How do you expect tourists to travel around in the State? There is
no proper bus network or cheap taxi options. Instead, we promote hired
bike which leads to unruly riding on narrow roads by drunk tourists who
end up getting hurt or hurting others. If one has to hire a taxi, it is
super expensive and a major deterrent in mobility. Is that healthy?
Tourists end up staying in clusters when there is so much more to offer
in the State. Also the taxi network is controlled by a mafia and
promotes an image of Goans being a bunch of cheats. Like other cities
that depend on tourism, can we not have nice clean buses that link
various tourist spots on a regular basis and thus reduce the dependency
to hired bikes and taxis? It would definitely be more environmentally
friendly.
Hotels
and restaurants: Do our hotels and restaurants meet the food regulation
standards? Every week there is a new restaurant popping up. Are we sure
that they meet the hygiene standards, if there are any? Every
commercial establishment serving food and hosting guests must meet a
minimum criteria set and that should be displayed prominently for all to
see. No matter what star category a hotel falls under, quality should
be checked and maintained. Many international cities that do not have
enough hotel rooms to accommodate tourists, allow residents to host
people in their accommodation a la bed and breakfast. But these are
registered with the government or local councils and have minimum
criteria to meet. Hotel room rates are also exorbitant at times, which
need to be regulated and lowered.
Infrastructure:
As one of the number one tourist destinations in India, do we have the
necessary infrastructure to cater to the tourists that we aspire to
attract? Roads are narrow and poorly lit. Sanitation is an issue with
lack of public toilets especially on the beach front. Garbage is dumped
in every public area thereby blotting our beautiful green land. What
about providing proper parking facilities at major tourist areas?
Sports
activities: Our strength is our vast coastline. Have we done much to
develop it? Do we have enough activities to offer people who come here
on a holiday? Is it controlled by a few who then charge exorbitant
rates? Most cities with a beach front or a lake front have a well
developed harbor and marina with access to activities such as water
skiing, wind surfing, boating, deep water fishing, canoeing, etc. Since
we have a mix of beach and inland areas, we must develop other sports
too. There should be regulations for operators to comply with safety
standards to minimise the risk of incidents and accidents.
High
end tourism: Goa is an attraction to the common man and the affluent of
India. Most of them probably own homes in Goa as well. Are we
capitalizing on the same? Can we not attract and develop a theatre
circuit so that we can showcase quality plays, musicals and even
international shows. Case in point is Singapore where there is always
something new happening. A tourist never tires of visiting Singapore
(which actually has little to offer by way of nature) because they have a
new zoo or a new attraction or a high end musical or a sporting event.
We must develop a roster of activities throughout the year which then
become the reason for people visiting Goa. Marine, helicopter and
amphibious aircraft operations must be developed to be able to cater to
HNIs. Touristic cities around the world are in fact using them to
attract more and more high paying tourists.
Medical
tourism: A concept that needs to be developed with innovative ideas is
Medical Tourism. Like Dubai, UAE; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Bangkok, Thailand
and other countries around the world, Goa too can develop this category
of tourism. World class hospitals, emergency services, well equipped and
maintained ambulances, rescue facilities etc are avenues that should be
tapped.
Sanitation:
I remember Goa being very clean. Now you cannot even walk on a beach
without fear of your foot being cut by a broken glass bottle. Our
villages were green but now you see garbage everywhere. Our Ministers
have been on several international trips to study how other countries
recycle their garbage. Is there nothing that they learn from those
foreign trips that they can implement in our small State of Goa? Other
than the major cities, there is no system for garbage collection nor are
there dustbins in public areas. And so our tourists think it is fine to
just chuck their water bottles, sweet wrappers or chip packets onto our
streets.
As you can see, we have much to do and fix if we want Goa to be the number one tourist destination in India.
(The author is founder & managing director, Aviation Services Management)
Herald, 30th October 2014
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