Is Goa Tourism in Trouble? What’s Worrying Tourists and Locals?

It has been a few years now for Firlyn Furtado, a Portuguese descendant, to notice a lot of cultural change in Goa, particularly, around Porvorim where she runs her bakery named, Manies Treats. Around her, the local Goan cuisines are disappearing to be replaced by the popular choices of the tourists leading to the venturing of Korean food. Similarly, catering to vegetarian tourists, she says, that a lot of “Udupi hotels” are coming up. "In the name of local cuisines, only Fish thalis are available but the entire Goan cuisine and the culture is lost," the 37-year-old says.

Goa is undergoing massive transformations to appeal to tourists, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic as there has been a surge in domestic tourists, while the number of international tourists has gone down. Recently, tourism and the state of infrastructure in Goa received harsh criticism after an entrepreneur, in a post that went viral, claimed that "foreign tourists have abandoned the state". It triggered a row of social media reactions where people highlighted the problems persisting with tourism in Goa. As a result, the state's tourism issued a clarification first but also filed a complaint against the entrepreneur later. 

Goans fear the loss of businesses

The entire row, however, kickstarted the conversation around the poor state of tourism highlighted by the tourists, which even natives cannot ignore. As per Furtado, the controversy has already become a part of conversations among the Goans. The declining number of tourists, especially foreign, is posing a threat to entrepreneurs like Furtado, who relies heavily on non-veg Goan cuisines. She says, "It is not good for us because a lot of Indians are sceptical of trying non-veg items."

On the other hand, reiterating one of the major challenges being spoken about online, Furtado says that the lack of adequate transportation in Goa is not only a problem for a tourist but also for the natives. She says, "My mother-in-law does not know how to drive and depends on me for the commutation." Be it for natives or tourists, the higher costs of taxis and lack of standardisation for the prices make it difficult for people to opt for those. Many have gone ahead calling it the 'Goa Taxi mafia' where people have repeatedly highlighted being overcharged by the taxis and some have also reported being physically intimidated by the taxis for offering rides to foreigners.

Barkha Sharda, who runs The Book Store in Porvorim is also of the view that there is a decline in the spending capacity of the tourists. She says, "Since we are a subsidised business, we have seen people specifically reach out to us but more and more tourists seem to prefer the monsoon and preseason. This could be because of the skyrocketing tariffs." Having lived in Goa for just 10 years also, Sharda can make the cultural shifts as she says, "The current scenes of Goa are about, primarily, couples or buses full of tourists looking for a cheaper deal for room, food and alcohol while roads are being constructed all year round for the demand for making a holiday home here. We get a lot of customers who are here for a few months, work from home or are in real estate looking for contacts."

'Transport, waste management, overcapacity, security, over-tourism and resentment' for tourists

The decline in tourism has been highlighted in the CEIC Data report, which suggested that only 1.5 million foreign tourists visited Goa in 2023, compared to 8.5 million in 2019. According to Jack Ajit Sukhija, President of the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa, domestic Tourist arrivals grew significantly and foreign Tourists recovered healthily from 2022 albeit they are still at 50% of pre-COVID numbers. Highlighting the major concerns, Mr. Sukhija says that there is a problem of waste management and ugly sprawl. "The highways and interior roads are full of litter. Moreover, shads and shanties are visible on a large number of fields along the roads," he adds.

Talking to Local Samosa, Mr. Sukhija mentioned a few more problems in the current scenario as he said, "Due to the high growth in 2022-2023, huge new capacity has been added. The Tourism department currently has 7500 accommodation units registered with about 67,500 rooms. Of these about 7200 are in C and D categories with an average size of 10 and 4 rooms respectively and an inventory of 47500 rooms. These units face significant challenges to upgrade themselves and evolve as per current customers’ requirements." Likewise, Goans, says that newer and higher quality restaurants and bars have sprung up which has forced older players to upgrade or face loss of business. 

Along with security issues which the President calls a "huge menace", he also says that overtourism is prevalent in some parts of Goa. "A large number of guests are overbearing and the local population is responding with the same energy. As such there are flash points between the two. The force of law should be prompt and fair ensuring the peace is maintained." On the other, Mr. Sukhija is hopeful about tourism in the state and says, "For the current year the foreign market is expected to further recover with arrivals from the UK doubling and a new Polish charter operating. Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan have direct flight connectivity to Goa and these markets are expected to witness healthy growth. Goa is likely to capture a slice of the 48 lakhs weddings planned between now and the end of the wedding season over the next 2-3 months."

Throwing light on the recent data, he further says that from November 7 to 10, it was difficult to get a room in most 5-star deluxe, 5-star and some 4-star hotels and the number of sold-out dates in this segment is up to February 2025. "The current year looks positive for the Goan Tourism industry, though growth will not be as high as 2022-2023 when revenge travel after the pandemic was in full force and several international destinations were closed," he adds. 

Locals believe, that only locals can make it better!

Mackinlay Barreto, who offers local tours to the hinterlands of Goa, says that along with the tourists, it is very likely for locals to also realise the problems being faced by Goa that are acting as hindrances for the tourists to choose it over other destinations. He says, "People come to Goa with the mindset to rejuvenate and it is surely a killjoy to see dirty beaches, rampant construction, cutting of trees, and negative attitudes of taxi drivers here." 

Barreto, who has been hosting the tours for at least 12 years now, and usually deals with repeat tourists, says that the locals, along with the tourism ministry should work on defining the kind of tourists coming to Goa and based on the preferences, should provide such amenities so that tourists have the experiences that they come for. In addition, as a local, Barreto observes that a standard code of conduct should be followed by even tour operators to be able to prevent overburdening. "We need to sensitise people about the carrying capacity when taking visitors to the hinterlands to avoid risks and also monitor to prevent litter by the tourists," the 47-year-old says.

Further, he also shares that instead of working on cab aggregators like Uber and Ola, which the government has been planning for some time now, it should work closely with the local taxi unions with the standard rates. "The only problem with the cabs here is that since places are far off from each other, the drivers might not find a return ride and incur losses." 

While the problems with tourism in Goa are being widely discussed, currently, there is no concrete understanding of what can make the state of the infrastructure better to lure tourists back to the state. However, once a vibrant destination, is thriving heavily upon the locals, as it seems. A content creator from Goa's Mapusa, Nishita Rivankar, who showcases the culture of the state through her content on social media says that Goa is "culture-oriented" with its unique festivals and traditions. "It has faded away with the state becoming a party capital," the 30-year-old says.

Admitting that the work of influencers has not been impacted visibly as of yet by the negative row about Goa, Rivankar still believes that "new avenues" might affect the Goans' traditional businesses and work, in general. Like many other Goans, however, she has also been trying to "preserve the cultural heritage of Goa alive" amidst the transitions.