Goa Tourism's collaboration with Bollywood film Finding Fanny, saw actors Deepika Padukone and Arjun Kapoor visiting a promotional event at a five star hotel in Juhu for five minutes, preceded by a presentation by Nikhil Desai, managing director, Goa Tourism Development Corporation. Desai unveiled the new logo for Goa tourism and also his plans to boost tourism in the state.
"Goa is developing the best system of integrated beach-cleaning, whereby within three months, the beaches in Goa could be comparable to the best in the world," Desai told dna. Beach safety would be the primary focus with patrolling extended up to midnight and adequate life guards being allotted for every beach. The tourism corporation also plans to launch sea planes by November that would be used for 12-20 minute joy rides, provided at market driven prices.
However, one of the major concerns of the GTDC would be to bring a cultural change in the kind of tourism that Goa has been seeing up till now. Desai said, "We have stopped open and public drinking on the beaches. You can enjoy a good drink in a shack, but cannot drink and break bottles on the beaches. This is out of respect for the other tourists. Drink responsibly is what we are saying."
When asked about the controversies regarding drug peddling in the state, Desai said that the police were cracking down on the menace and focusing on "better tourism." "The government has a zero tolerance policy towards drugs and we have mostly controlled the problem in the state."
In the same vein, Dilip Parulekar, Minister for Tourism said, "The focus of tourism in the state was in the wrong direction. Goa is not just about beaches." Nilesh Cabral, chairman of GTDC also told dna that the aim was to create "family tourism". He said, "One cannot deny that there are drugs. Drugs can be found in all popular tourist destinations, but the police in the state is committed to controlling it."
It is difficult to critique what the minister or the top bureaucrats say. Of course, drug peddling in Goa has to be stopped, but the undercurrent of the new campaign has to be taken with a pinch of salt. In his presentation, Desai said that four centuries of Portuguese rule had inhibited other cultures, and it was time to focus on the unique culture and ethnography, waterfalls and caves, temples and churches of Goa for tourism. This unique culture was "lost in the din and clamour of beach tourism," he said. The new government is focused on building a more inclusive tourism message and is clear on its strategy, he said.
While the efforts to curb drug peddling is commendable, controversies over whether bikinis can be worn on beaches or the India Reserve Battalion police taking care that men do not wear "shabby undergarments" might not benefit tourism after all. When Desai says he will bring out the "real side, right side" of Goa tourism, he should not walk down a path where the "real side" is manufactured. Promoting "family tourism" or the waterfalls, churches or temples do not need to be supplemented by increasing prohibition on the beaches. "Good tourism" could scare away tourists rather than enthusing them and the concept remains debatable.
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