The faltering Russian economy and controversial statements by Goan politicians about keeping bikini-clad sunbathers and swimmers off beaches, shutting down drinking holes and “normalising” homosexuals have boomeranged on the State’s tourism industry. In August last year, Goa’s Public Works Department Minister Sudin Dhavalikar created an uproar when he insisted that bikinis should be banned from the State’s public beaches.
Adding fuel to the fire was Goa’s Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Ramesh Tawadkar who last week said the Government was planning to set up centres to administer treatment to the lGBT youths to make them “normal”.
While Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar squarely blamed the Russian economy and “other factors” for the drop in the number of tourists arriving in Goa, the fact remains that the State’s tourism industry is battling to remain afloat. And the controversial statements being made by politicians are not helping the cause of the tourism industry.
However, when asked to justify his own department’s figures that charter flights, which mainly fly from Russia into Goa were down by 35 per cent, Parulekar said: “The Russian problem is that the economy is down. The Rouble has come down and their President Putin has given guidelines, asking Russians not to travel outside the country, unless it’s on an official visit.”
“Domestic or foreign tourists hesitate to come to Goa by flight because tickets are expensive. They sometimes even cost Rs30,000 from Delhi,” Parulekar explained. It is a different matter that even during the peak season of Christmas and New Year air fares stayed normal. As part of his moves to bring back the tourists, Parulekar said he was trying for better connectivity to Goa, especially ahead of the carnival celebrations scheduled to be held in the first week of February.
However, the tourism industry has been complaining for long that lack of proper infrastructure, including attractions and the sole USP of sunny beaches was leading to fatigue among tourists, who have begun to look for different locations in South-East Asia with more varied and diverse offerings.
“In the long run, the State needs to look at avenues that will bring in a different breed of tourists, but you can’t blame this year’s slowdown on the failure of the Government. The immediate cause was external factors,” Ernest Dias vice-president of Kuoni Travels told The Pioneer. Kuoni Travels is one of the major inbound tourism agencies which brings a large chunk of Russian charter tourists to Goa.
“Garbage, bad roads and the likes have been around since a long time. We can’t blame this year’s downturn on these factors. It has a more immediate trigger,” he said, referring to the fall in the value of the Rouble.
The State has learnt from its mistake of relying overly on one market, namely Russia, to bring in tourists and would look to diversify, officials said. The lone ray of hope this year was the commencement of the long-awaited Visa-on-Arrival facility across several airports across the country, including Goa. With the service being launched in November, the results have begun to show towards late January with increased number of tourists coming by regular flights rather than choosing charters.
Parulekar said that the Tourism Ministry was making efforts to explore Europe and look beyond Russia to market Goa as a tourism destination in hopes of getting in more tourists for the coming seasons.
Goa’s tourism season stretches from October to March and the 2013-14 season has been marked by a significant drop in the number of foreign tourists, especially Russians. While the Tourism Minister was unable to give an exact number, he said that the drop was as much as 30 per cent to 35 per cent. Nearly 1.62 lakh Russians landed in Goa in 2013.