Goa new tourism policy deters budget tourists, narcotics consumption

Goa's Tourism Policy 2020, which was formally approved by the cabinet, wants to veer the resort state away from its reputation as a narco-tourism destination and also wants to deter budget tourists from camping and cooking in public, which causes a nuisance, according to Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar.

Ajgaonkar told reporters after a meeting of the state cabinet, where the much-awaited Tourism policy was passed, that major decisions related to the growth of the industry would now be taken by the Goa Tourism Board, a multi-stakeholder entity with representatives from the tourism and travel sectors as well as umbrella trade bodies and industry experts.

"We want good tourists. We do not want drugs and tourists who consume drugs. We do not want people who cook food on the streets," the Tourism Minister said. Through 2019, as many as five persons were arrested every week in narcotics-related cases and drugs worth Rs. five crore were seized in the state.

Goa annually witnesses the arrival of nearly eight million tourists every year, including half a million foreigners. But the recent influx of budget tourists, who travel to the state in large groups and camp and cook in the open, has been objected to by local residents as well as by the hotel industry, which has demanded a ban on such activity, claiming it creates a nuisance.

Last year, the Goa government also instituted a penalty mechanism for cooking in open spaces, which included fines in the range of Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 10,000 and imprisonment for repeated offences and failure to pay the penalty.

Ajgaonkar also said that the tourism policy also aimed to broad-base Goa's tourism experience bouquet, by extending it from the state's famous beaches, to other interesting facets like heritage, adventure and water sports and promotion of places of culture and architectural interest.

"Goa's beauty is famous all over the world. We have to take tourism ahead by promoting its culture and natural beauty," he also said.

Commenting on the formation of the Goa Tourism Board, a reform which has been demanded for years by industry stakeholders will also oversee decisions taken with the short term as well as long term interests of the tourism industry in Goa, he said.