CROWDS: Against Center guidelines of a ceiling of 200 on number of people at any get-together…hundreds attended the public hearing on the new CRZ draft plan without masks! They were out sitting close together on pavement spaces outside Kala Academy in Panaji

By Arvind Pinto

The Chief Minister of Goa Pramod Sawant is irresponsibly spreading out the red carpet to tourist from the worst affected covid-19 states like Maharashtra without any restrictions…..

WHAT makes many Indians make a beeline for Goa despite covid-19 still around? How is Goa on the bucket list of most Indians whenever they plan on going on holiday? India’s smallest state, now that mining is banned, survived on tourism revenue without which much of the government revenue would collapse.
India has a long littoral coast with most of its Southern states enjoying luxurious beaches, most of which inhabited by fishing communities which go out to sea daily for their daily livelihood. But unlike many other beaches in India the beaches of Goa draws in hoards of tourists from India and abroad every year for the temptations are many! What does Goa have that lures thousands of domestic tourists to this beach paradise and the fortunate few who can afford to have second homes here? It is a combination of several factors including its colonial Portuguese history which makes Goa tick tock for many tourists from far and near. Let’s look at some of the more prominent factors that bring people to Goa
Given its geographical location this region is helmed on three sides by the hilly Western Ghats which are not easily accessible to the rest of India till after its post-Liberation development. During the Portuguese era about the favorite means of travelling was trekking through the intractable Western Ghats and later there was a railway line which entered Goa through Castle Rock – the famous junction-cum-border town between Karnataka and Goa.
With the opening of the Konkan railway, a project pioneered by the now coming into the limelight E Sheedharan, Goa became accessible to the rest of India. It still remained an unknown destination since there was little to attract anyone save Goans returning from abroad. Konkan Railway trains besides opening up Goa to the rest of India, brought in hordes of migrants, who found this oasis of both calm and plenty perfect for settling down. It became a place where there was enough money for their talents and skills. For the early migrants over the years have now not only established themselves but have grown from being workers to entrepreneurs and second-generation successful business people.
Another important event was of international dimension. In 1983 from the 23rd to the 29th November, the Commonwealth Heads of Nations Conference was held at Delhi. As a diversion, the heads of states retreated to Goa for the weekend. It was this conference that brought Goa to international notice, with national and international media flying down to cover the historic event.
So now the world began to notice Goa. This was when both the government of India together with the State government put into place certain basic infrastructural facilities to make a happy holiday weekend in paradise possible. This was when the road to the northern beach villages of Calangute, Baga and Candolim was connected with the main towns of Panaji and Porvorim. With this CHOGN event came a host of development initiatives over the next decade to build up Goa as a tourist destination.
If Goa was a natural jewel, it was the hippies of the 1960s, the flower children, who first discovered its timeless beauty and wanted to time pass here. This band of nature lovers were content to live frugally with minimal needs on the beaches of Goa. They adjusted easily with the local villagers and did little to alter the surroundings.
The villagers in turn left these “foreigners,” content with the incremental income they made by renting out rooms in their cottages and selling food and other creature comfort requirements to the growing community of hippies. Then came the news of these flower children hippies wandering around nude on the beaches and hordes of Indian tourists flocked to Goa to get their glimpse of the happy white-skinned nudists!
All this led to another tribe of Kashmiri sellers who come to Goa to primarily sell their handicrafts to the foreign tourists. Other wants of the original band of hippies was for drugs or marijuana and soon it grew into a drug cartel of locals and international sellers and buyers to promote Goa as a hedonistic drug destination for international and national celebrities.
With Goa blossoming into a prime tourist destination, another important development was the arrival of charter flights from abroad and this changed the category of tourists coming into Goa. Given the warm winters, with sun, sand and surf most of the year around, Goa was sold in Europe as an alternative to the cold, dreary winters of Europe.
Tour operators put together smart packages, sold as an all-inclusive packages, with a round trip air passage, a comfortable stay at a resort where breakfast was included in the package price, and sometimes lunch or dinner too. These packages was so attractive that many foreign tourists believed that the cost of a sunshine filled holiday in Goa cost less than their heating bills in Europe’s freezing cold winters.
Soon Goa was flooded with charter tourists and the need for reasonably priced resorts and restaurants grew. The demand also brought in both investments to Goa’s beach village towns as also traders who saw this arrival of tourists with deeper pockets a captive market for their wares.
With an increasing number of white tourists Goa soon became a magnet for local and domestic tourists too. Domestic tour operators began to sell Goa packages. Domestic tourists too were charmed by the easygoing and laid back Goan culture, the friendly nature of the people and the ease of getting around too added to the charms of Goa.
With increasing tourists, the need for infrastructure, better resorts and hotels sprung up. The destruction done to the natural beauty, the wanton cutting of trees were all forgotten in the name of development. The once scenic villages soon became semi-urbanized with little planning. But there was money to be made from tourists and no one was really complaining. Even the cities of Panaji and Margoa that were not capable of handling large volumes of tourists were soon filed to capacity.
Many of those who came as tourists soon found Goa to be an ideal destination to stay for good. Cost of real estate was one-fifth the prices in other metropolitan cities. Many settlers used their money to buy a holiday home, where they could come to instead of staying at a hotel. Besides the several came to Goa on either business or a profession and decide to settle here.
What attracts people to Goa? In the first place, the Goan atmosphere is a quality that is hard to express but something that most tourists talk about. The atmosphere in Goa is like one long holiday. There is little of the hustle and bustle that is found in most Indian metropoles. Goa is an unhurried place, where events unfold at their own pace. If one steps into the villages of the region, time almost stands still and life goes on with little change. Cost of living comparatively is cheaper than many places in India, and the price of real estate is lower than other cities. At the beach villages, there is always activity, by way of markets, there is the sun, surf and the sea that attracts sun worshipers and lookers- on who flock come here all year round.
Further the Goans are an easy people to get along with. An interesting phenomenon is that Goans are increasingly becoming scarce and Goa is being populated by people from outside Goa. The current municipal elections are a case in point; where much of the canvassing is done for the migrants who have now settled in Goa and become Goan over a passage of time.
Goa despite its quick growth is still a good place to live in. While public transport is bad, there are alternative methods of transport. Today all communities are able to find restaurants to suit both their taste or the budget. Over the period, medical facilities have improved. Infrastructure which was bad is now good. There are good roads connecting most villages. Bridges have been built over the rivers and electricity has come to all villages. Life is Goa is good. This is why Goa still attracts tourists all the year round. For to be in Goa, it’s party time throughout the year!

GOA NOTICED

So now the world began to notice Goa. This was when both the government of India together with the State government put into place certain basic infrastructural facilities to make a happy holiday weekend in paradise possible. This was when the road to the northern beach villages of Calangute, Baga and Candolim was connected with the main towns of Panaji and Porvorim. With this CHOGN event came a host of development initiatives over the next decade to build up Goa as a tourist destination.
If Goa was a natural jewel, it was the hippies of the 1960s, the flower children, who first discovered its timeless beauty and wanted to time pass here. This band of nature lovers were content to live frugally with minimal needs on the beaches of Goa. They adjusted easily with the local villagers and did little to alter the surroundings.
The villagers in turn left these “foreigners,” content with the incremental income they made by renting out rooms in their cottages and selling food and other creature comfort requirements to the growing community of hippies. Then came the news of these flower children hippies wandering around nude on the beaches and hordes of Indian tourists flocked to Goa to get their glimpse of the happy white-skinned nudists!
All this led to another tribe of Kashmiri sellers who come to Goa to primarily sell their handicrafts to the foreign tourists. Other wants of the original band of hippies was for drugs or marijuana and soon it grew into a drug cartel of locals and international sellers and buyers to promote Goa as a hedonistic drug destination for international and national celebrities.
With Goa blossoming into a prime tourist destination, another important development was the arrival of charter flights from abroad and this changed the category of tourists coming into Goa. Given the warm winters, with sun, sand and surf most of the year around, Goa was sold in Europe as an alternative to the cold, dreary winters of Europe.
Tour operators put together smart packages, sold as an all-inclusive packages, with a round trip air passage, a comfortable stay at a resort where breakfast was included in the package price, and sometimes lunch or dinner too. These packages was so attractive that many foreign tourists believed that the cost of a sunshine filled holiday in Goa cost less than their heating bills in Europe’s freezing cold winters.
Soon Goa was flooded with charter tourists and the need for reasonably priced resorts and restaurants grew. The demand also brought in both investments to Goa’s beach village towns as also traders who saw this arrival of tourists with deeper pockets a captive market for their wares.
With an increasing number of white tourists Goa soon became a magnet for local and domestic tourists too. Domestic tour operators began to sell Goa packages. Domestic tourists too were charmed by the easygoing and laid back Goan culture, the friendly nature of the people and the ease of getting around too added to the charms of Goa.
With increasing tourists, the need for infrastructure, better resorts and hotels sprung up. The destruction done to the natural beauty, the wanton cutting of trees were all forgotten in the name of development. The once scenic villages soon became semi-urbanized with little planning. But there was money to be made from tourists and no one was really complaining. Even the cities of Panaji and Margoa that were not capable of handling large volumes of tourists were soon filed to capacity.

IDEAL DESTINATION

Many of those who came as tourists soon found Goa to be an ideal destination to stay for good. Cost of real estate was one-fifth the prices in other metropolitan cities. Many settlers used their money to buy a holiday home, where they could come to instead of staying at a hotel. Besides the several came to Goa on either business or a profession and decide to settle here.
What attracts people to Goa? In the first place, the Goan atmosphere is a quality that is hard to express but something that most tourists talk about. The atmosphere in Goa is like one long holiday. There is little of the hustle and bustle that is found in most Indian metropoles. Goa is an unhurried place, where events unfold at their own pace. If one steps into the villages of the region, time almost stands still and life goes on with little change. Cost of living comparatively is cheaper than many places in India, and the price of real estate is lower than other cities. At the beach villages, there is always activity, by way of markets, there is the sun, surf and the sea that attracts sun worshipers and lookers- on who flock come here all year round.
Further the Goans are an easy people to get along with. An interesting phenomenon is that Goans are increasingly becoming scarce and Goa is being populated by people from outside Goa. The current municipal elections are a case in point; where much of the canvassing is done for the migrants who have now settled in Goa and become Goan over a passage of time.
Goa despite its quick growth is still a good place to live in. While public transport is bad, there are alternative methods of transport. Today all communities are able to find restaurants to suit both their taste or the budget. Over the period, medical facilities have improved. Infrastructure which was bad is now good. There are good roads connecting most villages. Bridges have been built over the rivers and electricity has come to all villages. Life is Goa is good. This is why Goa still attracts tourists all the year round. For to be in Goa, it’s party time throughout the year!