JOIN USTourism in times of Covid-19? Spielberg’s ‘Jaws’ has lessons for Goa
As the rogue man-eating shark glides through the warm seas surrounding Amity island, the fictional setting for Steven Spielberg's 1975 cult film 'Jaws', Mayor Larry Vaughn dreams about raking in the tourism dollar. Thousands of tourists are expected on Amity island for the summer and the shark, the film's main villain, which is already believed to have killed one youngster, literally stands between a booming season and shutting down of the island for tourists on account of the obvious public threat.
In a contemporary context, Amity island could well be Goa, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant could fill the boots of Larry Vaughn with ease and the villainous shark may well resemble the ominous spectre of Covid-19, which looms over the state, whose rulers have been reluctant to impose strict restrictions for fear of losing tourist footfalls in the short-term.
Last week, Goa crossed its year-long high of daily Covid-19 cases, with 951 persons testing positive on Sunday. And yet, as neighbouring states have slowly begun to roll down their shutters, Sawant seems more than keen to emulate Vaughn, by allowing untested tourists to stream into Goa. At the time of writing, cars are making a beeline into Goa along borders which the state shares with Maharashtra, which along with Delhi, has been emerging as the buzzing epicentre of Covid, regularly reporting more than 50,000 cases every day. Its only other neighbour, Karnataka, has also reported cases in five-figures every day. But the Goa government has not been willing to set up even a semblance of mechanism for testing inbound tourists arriving from these Covid-19 hotspots (Sawant on Wednesday announced a night curfew from 10 pm to 6 am. Casinos in Goa, along with hotels, have however been allowed to continue operations the post 10 pm deadline).
Read: Goa govt imposes night curfew from April 21
Sawant has two unusual explanations to justify his reluctance. One is the logistical nightmare of setting up extensive testing infrastructure at the state's borders. The second explanation has goofy overtones. "Tourists alone do not spread Covid. Covid is present in the state. But people should not mix up with tourists," is Sawant's unusual and rather inexplicable advice to the natives. There is a third reason behind Sawant's reluctance to impose travel restrictions on inbound tourists. It’s so obvious, that its unstated: Casinos.
Opposition parties, including the Congress, as well as striking taxi drivers in Goa have dared Sawant to shut down casino operations in Goa in wake of the rising Covid-19 cases, especially after a steady stream of photos and videos of casino visitors mulling around in groups, paying little respect to Covid-19 SOPs, have been going viral on social media over the last few weeks.
The six offshore and nine onshore casinos, have been the unquestionable force behind successive governments in Goa. With the mining industry shut down, the casinos represent a powerful lobby, which have defined policy in governments headed by both the Congress as well as the BJP, ever since roulette and blackjack tables started dotting the waters of the Mandovi river and in the numerous five-star resorts which dot the tourist state.
After casinos were allowed to function at half capacity in November last year, following a drop in coronavirus cases, the Goa government had mooted a Rs 277.08 crore waiver to the casino industry; a move which attracted popular ire from local industry captains, who claimed that the state's micro, small and medium industries were also reeling from the pandemic shock and needed bailing out. Such acts of largesse to the casino industry have not been rare in Goa, especially in light of the fact that the casino industry has been a major cash cow for the state economy and has nurtured the campaigns and treasury kits of Goa's political parties.
In the fiscal before the emergence of the pandemic, the state treasury earned Rs 411 crore from the casino industry in the form of taxes and licence fees; a number which pales before the crores of rupees which are gambled on the roulette, blackjack, baccarat tables and in slot machines every day. The same crores of rupees the casino industry stands to lose if the state makes efforts to streamline tourist inflow. The industry has been able to wriggle out a lot of legroom even during the pandemic. So much so, that when 31 staffers of an offshore casino tested positive, the government notified a residential complex they were staying in as a micro containment zone, but the casino continued to function despite the large number of cases reported amongst its work force.
For Sawant, the choice is not an easy one, especially with the state assembly elections less than a year away. While the state's finances continue to totter due to the deep economic impact of the pandemic -- and the continued shutdown of the mining industry -- political parties are finding it difficult to build a war-chest for the upcoming polls. The reluctance to put in strict testing mechanisms on the state's borders or simply turning a blind eye to the spate of parties and tourism-related events in the state's coastal belt, will certainly not arrest the rising tide of Covid-19 cases. But that is a choice Sawant has consciously made, even rejecting overtures made by the state bjp unit last week to vet tourists before they enter Goa.
In many ways, Sawant has emulated Larry Vaughn, whose blind pursuit of the tourism dollar allowed the monster shark to maul eager swimmers and wreak havoc in the picture postcard island. In doing so, Vaughn disregards the advice of the film’s protagonist, state police chief Brody played by Roy Scheider, only to the island’s peril. It takes Brody's courage and a bull-headed shark hunter Quint, to finally blast the frenzied shark into pieces.
‘Jaws’ holds lessons for Goa or any tourism region facing a public crisis, if only Pramod Sawant would stop playing Russian roulette with his own people, and take notice.