Insecurities, uncertainties arise as Goa tourism season approaches

Had it not been for the erratic rain that is drenching Goa, a number of beach shacks would have been up and serving by now, giving the early foreign tourists a surprise.

Yes, Foreign Individual Tourists, known by their abbreviation FIT, have begun descending, and most of those who GT Digital interacted with, happened to be from the United Kingdom.

Nearing October, and despite the announcement that the first charter is scheduled to land in the first week of October, tour operators are not ready to casually remove their hands off their pockets as trepidation looms.

War is the source of uncertainty. There was war last year, and it still persists with no sign of any course correction, and the cause of uncertainty is not regarding which tourist will come or not, but how much less profit all are going to take home.

The tendency now is to make hay whilst the sun shines, little realising that the sun feels best during the rain breaks. The Pandemic did put all through an unwanted encounter, perhaps, justifying the need to make money for another pandemic day.

But, keeping insecurity aside and instead plunging into the new season, tourism stakeholders might as well prepare themselves not only to be prepared to receive guests, but to plunge into the party along with them.

“People say artificial intelligence will create poetry,” artist Ghulam Mohammed Sheikh said in an interview.

“But poetry,” he went on to add, “is related to the human mind, human life and imagination; it cannot happen without them.” Similarly, tourism flourishes when feelings flow from the soul.

Tourism is an industry with a soul, and one that keeps changing depending on the people of the place. And, therein lies the uniqueness of the definition, and it can be best understood when all stakeholders realise that the essence lies in being able to accept what is each one’s take, each season.

Profits may fluctuate or tilt from one end to the other each season, but what is important is to know, at the end of the season, that one is able to happily await the next one, and this can be achieved by keeping greed aside.

BEACH WEDDINGS TAX

The government, it appears, has decided to increase the tax on beach weddings, and some are not happy. The reason being given is that there will be a decline in beach weddings because of the increase in rates.

That does not stand. Beach weddings are the in-thing amongst the elite, because the money is so big that top-end resorts are comfortable hosting only beach weddings, preferring to keep FITs and others away or as secondaries.

Hence the question is, will increasing tax by a lakh make a difference for a wedding where one ends up spending in crores? And hence, will the demand for beach weddings decrease?

The questions are self-answered, and instead of looking for answers, stakeholders should think about how they could raise the level of beach weddings to compensate for the increase in tax.

GIVE LOCAL ART A CHANCE

Art, apart from good living, is part of being a local, and that art has been seen at our own weddings, and which could well be appreciated by our guests for whom the concept of weddings is extravaganza.

Goa is witness to some ups and downs with environmentalists from the State and outside upset over the manner in which our nature is being raped. The protest is not for just saving natural resources, but the essence that draws tourists to the State.

Once the season starts, the protestors should not be surprised if groups joining the protests are tourists themselves, because they have done it before and may well join the chorus this time.

Even nature, does not take being raped lying down.