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Goa’s empty shacks, silent shores

GOA, long regarded as a bustling destination for foreigners, is witnessing an unsettling shift. Silent shacks and nearly deserted beaches are ringing alarm bells. A couple of months ago, an entrepreneur claimed on social media that foreign tourist arrivals in...
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GOA, long regarded as a bustling destination for foreigners, is witnessing an unsettling shift. Silent shacks and nearly deserted beaches are ringing alarm bells. A couple of months ago, an entrepreneur claimed on social media that foreign tourist arrivals in Goa were falling. He was booked for spreading ‘false information’.

The peak season begins in October and continues till January. By this time, beaches such as Arambol, Morjim and Anjuna in north Goa and Agonda in the south are abuzz with tourists — especially from Russia and Israel. However, during my visit last month, I experienced an unusual lull at these beaches.

Flea markets, usually swarming with foreign tourists, had few visitors. In routine, foreigners would be enamoured with the spices, wind chimes, dreamcatchers, beach wear, leather bags and other products on display, but this time, shopkeepers and homestay owners rued that many foreign tourists preferred countries like Sri Lanka and Thailand.

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Shacks were lying empty; there were no takers for the beautifully decorated beachfront areas. Shack owners and shopkeepers were sitting idle during a season in which they used to make a fortune.

In contrast, we had struggled to find a beachfront hotel for our stay in 2023, and were turned back as all hotels were apparently booked by foreign tourists. We finally ended up in a hotel quite far from the beach, and that too at a tariff that burnt a hole in our pocket.

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However, in December last year, we managed to book a decent resort at a fairly reasonable price as there were hardly any tourists around. Rooms were available at throwaway rates.

While the state tourism department might have refuted claims about plummeting tourist numbers, it has failed to address concerns like fleecing by taxi operators, hoteliers and shopkeepers that leaves tourists cheated.

A couple of our friends from Delhi visited Sri Lanka recently. They told us that the island nation was flooded with tourists from across the world. The footfall on the beaches was remarkable. One wonders how a country on the verge of an economic collapse was able to revitalise its tourism sector in just a couple of years. It is said that Sri Lanka is relatively cleaner and its hotels much cheaper. During a visit to Thailand in 2023, I surprisingly found that it was easier to find budget-friendly hotels there than in India.

Another reason for the diversion of tourist footfall could be safety. At the Arambol beach, a techno party of a handful of foreign tourists was disrupted by a group of Indians, who tried to strike up a conversation with girls. It was an embarrassment for us to watch the scene.

It is about time India took this as a wake-up call, or else Goa will lose its alluring charm sooner rather than later.

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