PANAJI: Is Goa losing its sheen as a leisure and family holiday destination?
While stakeholders say it is too soon to draw this conclusion from the obvious drop in domestic and international tourists this week—traditionally the peak of the season—the lesser-crowded streets along the coastal belt and the almost empty shacks show something somewhere is wrong.
Grappling with the changed scenario, stakeholders are pointing fingers at the "lawlessness" in beach areas—touts nagging tourists, desi male travellers ogling at foreign female tourists and high hotel and taxi rates.
Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG), a body of hoteliers and tour operators, blames stakeholders as much as the government.
TTAG president Francisco de Braganca slammed stakeholders, including shack operators, for converting some of the most expensive real estate on the beaches into cheap avenues for groups of male tourists to ogle at female tourists.
As a result, there are lesser foreign tourists on the Calangute-Baga belt, which is now dominated by ill-behaved Indian men, said Braganca, adding, "Obviously, Goa has lost its sheen. Goa was all along an international tourist destination."
A shack operator at Baga pointed out that female foreign tourists, whether alone or in company, is the object of fancy for Indian male tourists. "They will ogle to the extent of making the woman uncomfortable. Some even follow and strike up conversations," said the operator.
Sally and Clive, a couple from the UK, who have been visiting Goa regularly for the last 20 years, say a lot has changed. "Goans are lovely and warm and we do like Goa, but..." said Clive, adding that he has been approached by drug peddlers four times since his arrival this time.
"Irritants at the beaches can't be tolerated anymore," said Sally. The couple have decided they will not be telling their friends back home to visit Goa.
Lifeguards at the beach also tell of how female foreign tourists get singled out by male Indian tourists, with some even taking photos on their cellphones.
"If you get this kind of treatment, I don't think you want to come back," said a boutique hotel owner in North Goa, who had a couple staying at his hotel recount their "horrifying experience" on Baga beach on Tuesday morning.
Despite the presence of IRB personnel on the beaches, one sees all kinds of vendors, including masseurs, on the beaches.
"They have some sort of an understanding with each other. If the IRB personnel are patrolling one end of the beach the vendors enter from the other end. But most vendors come in the afternoon when the IRB personnel take their lunch break," said a shack operator.
Private taxi operators too whine about the reduced number of tourists, accusing hoteliers and tour operators of harming Goa tourism. The latter in turn blame taxi operators for overcharging.
"We are accused of overcharging but nobody points fingers at hoteliers charging exorbitant rates. Leave alone starred hotels, even no-frills hotels and guesthouses charge high rent during season time. To top it all, airfare is so high. No wonder, tourists are turning their back on Goa," said Vasudev Arlekar, president of the North Goa tourist taxi owners association.
A hotelier in South Goa, said may be the ills of Goa's tourism have started showing their effect, though he claimed that most starred hotels are full, if not by foreign tourists then by high-end Indian tourists.
The TTAG president further claimed that one of the reasons why tourists with spending power are keeping away from beaches is loud music played by some shacks.
"They practically force their paying customers to leave their premises. Restaurants at the higher end of the spectrum, with professional management, good ambience, soft music and good food seem to be doing better than those playing loud music," he claimed, indicating that it is the non-starred hotels and shack operators who have lost this season and will have to change their strategy to gain lost ground.
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