There is a lot being written and being said about Goa in the current days, but one line by Lorraine Pencock – a frequent visitor to the State – sums it up: “I thought it was amazing, we had a ball.”
The number of visitors is down this season, and perhaps will remain that way in the coming months, but the reality is that tourism has not been short-changed and will not be in the years ahead as long as the place does not empty out of locals.
“The beauty of Goa,” a tourist, bathing her feet in the waters, said, “is in its people. They are good.” And, it is the good seen by her, and many others, that attracts people from all over to us. So, let us stop whining and start living again.
Goa has a beautiful sea face, lovely rivers and unrivalled mountains. Through the years, they have been shrinking, but the heartbeat of the people has remained steady and it is on it that the industry thrives.
Goa has a beautiful sea face, lovely rivers and unrivalled mountains. Through the years, they have been shrinking, but the heartbeat of the people has remained steady and it is on it that the industry thrives.
The standard of living has changed after the COVID-19 pandemic; it has not risen to its past standard. This could be drawing negativity out of many. But, that should not be a worry because, as is usual, let us rest with the saying – the best is yet to come.
If we got ten tourists last season, we expected twelve this time or at least ten and a half. It did not happen. Instead, the ten is still bouncing around and the bounce is unsettling the stakeholders.
The inability to meet financial expectations has turned many emotions awry and hence the flow of emotion that has unanchored the boat from a reality that a lot more can be achieved with a thought for others.
Fingers are being pointed at the lack of activity at night or nightlife. Tourism, in most countries, is not about nightlife because nothing much can be seen in the dark or through lights.
To many, and especially those who do not really know the real story, Goa was never about nightlife, though there were those days in a month during the full moon when the surface of the earth shook.
Fingers are being pointed at the lack of activity at night or nightlife. Tourism, in most countries, is not about nightlife because nothing much can be seen in the dark or through lights.
Yes, Goa had some lovely full moon parties, and perhaps should be having more, as long as the more is not ill defined and turned into a mess because the experience of a party once in a month is different from parties every day. In the end, all need to go to bed at a proper time.
Perhaps, to make up for what was lost during the pandemic, many went into overdrive, and prices escalated irrationally, but that is a wrong that can easily be rectified and is being so done.
If taxi owners have been mean to many, they are looked as good by others, so it will not be right to paint them all with one brush. There is the good and bad in them, just as there is in all of us, so it is better to stay with the good as long as the negative can be kept at bay.
Wherever there are honey bees, there is honey, and the honey taker will increase. This is a known phenomenon. Instead of panicking on seeing the numbers, let us plan on how to share.
Perhaps, to make up for what was lost during the pandemic, many went into overdrive, and prices escalated irrationally, but that is a wrong that can easily be rectified and is being so done.
When we share, no one loses. It is that simple, and it will not be long before tourism jumps on this bandwagon.
“The fundamental law of human beings is interdependence. A person is a person through other persons,” the words of Desmond Tutu, South African theologian and anti-apartheid activist, still echo and are more calming than those of so-called influencers.
