The monsoon is over, the tourism season has begun. The media in Goa – mainstream and social – has been constantly reminding readers that the tourism season has begun, that the charters have landed and tourists are going to be flocking to Goa for the next four months.
Goa received 173 inches of rain in 122 days of June to September, and average of 1.41 inches a day. It is now going to receive a flood of tourists. Is it prepared?
But, before answering that question, it leads me to ask the question: when, during the last four monsoon months, didn't tourists flood Goa, along with the rain that flooded the streets?
You walked around Panjim, there were tourists at every corner; you went to the beach, there were tourists whichever way you looked; you went to the heritage religious places and they were there in queues; making one wonder whether there exists something such as an 'off season' for tourism in Goa?
There, perhaps, was not a single day when the iconic step of the Church of Our Lady of Panjim remained without hordes of tourists snapping up pictures or when the residents of Fontainhas were not disturbed by holidayers seeking an instagram moment.
Is there any longer a tourism off season in Goa?
When, during the last four monsoon months, didn't tourists flood Goa, along with the rain that flooded the streets?
There was a time, years ago, when the tourism off season and on season were clearly demarcated, and not just by calendar months beginning from June 1 and ending on September 30. During this period, it was practically the entire tourism industry in the State that would wind up operations.
Hotels, the non-starred, would shut down, restaurants in the coastal areas would pull down shutters, shacks of course would be dismantled, but even those in private properties would remain covered in tarpaulin or plastic.
The coastal areas actually took a break, and during these months, one could walk on the sands of Goa without encountering groups of tourists or peddlers desperate to make a sale.
There might have been just the stray couples on a honeymoon or a family on a holiday. No large groups that you encounter in the current times.
Today’s off season has only the beach shacks and the water sports operators staying off the beach and the charter flights not landing in Goa. The rest of the tourism infrastructure – hotels, restaurants, river cruises, sightseeing tour operators and all others that play a role in tourism – remain operational. This definitely does not make it an off season.
Today’s off season has only the beach shacks and the water sports operators staying off the beach and the charter flights not landing in Goa.
Since tourism is now a year-long affair in Goa, it requires that the government respond to the emerging situation for better administration. It can start by terming it as a low season, and thereon, manage it from that viewpoint.
The term off season for tourism no longer has any meaning in Goa and this term bestows upon it a negative tone. The monsoon months require a more positive outlook from the tourism industry and the government machinery.
For safety reasons, water sports cannot be permitted during the monsoon, and it would also not be advisable to have the beach shacks as the sea waters rise quite high during these months. These two can be ruled out during the monsoon, but what about the charters?
It is a fact that Goa depends on the arrival of charters for a fair amount of its tourism traffic during the season. The charters have traditionally landed only in the dry months as the tourists from Europe escape their autumn and winter, seeking the warmth of the sun.
But, that too could change and if Goa can target the right countries, there could come a day when Goa could start charter landings in the monsoon too.
The State has come to depend on tourism for a fair share of its revenue earnings and for employment purposes. The industry has evolved and the government, too, is looking at new avenues for promotion. Tourism is heading towards an all-year affair, and it is time that in Goa, the term off season be done away with.
It always pays to have a positive outlook, and this could change how not just tourists see Goa, but even how the stakeholders rise to the situation of providing services to the tourists during the monsoon months.
