'No ban on bikinis on Goa beaches'

“There are no moves to ban bikinis on the beaches. We have just moved to ensure that the government-sponsored advertisements do not have women in bikinis on them,” state Tourism Minister Fransisco Pacheco said.

The minister was reacting to media reports which claimed, quoting a senior tourism ministry official, that bikinis would be banned on the state’s beaches.

“How will people have bath in the sea without swim wear? There is nothing vulgar in wearing beachwear on the beaches,” he said.

Pacheco said the Tourism Ministry is concerned over the wrong portrayal of Goa’s image as a sex tourism destination and that’s why the directives were issued to delete bikini-clad women from the advertisements.