PANJIM: Deputy Director of tourism Rajesh Kale filed a police complaint with the cybercrime police station against Ramanuj Mukherjee on Friday, who posted on X (Twitter) that Goa's foreign tourist arrivals were declining. Kale complained that this was done to discredit the state's tourism sector and severely damage Goa's image as a safe and welcoming destination for tourists. In this edition of street voices, Herald TV spoke to people on whether Goa tourism is getting a bad name due to influencers or is it because of the actual reality of tourism in Goa.
There are a lot of issues plaguing Goa Tourism. We don’t have good transportation. I’m not talking of taxis only, but we should have a good bus service from North Goa to South Goa. All the people who are coming here do not come with good intentions. They are come to scam the tourists. There is no price regulation. We need quality tourism and it is gone down so much, that definitely Goa will get a bad name.
Any Tom, Dick and Harry can come to Goa, sleep on the beaches, drink of the beaches, and throw the bottles anywhere. They can sit on the roadside and drink. This is bringing a bad name to Goa. The influencers are also so powerful that if they highlight one or two bad things in Goa compared to 100 good things which are happening, definitely it can have a bad impact on Goa Tourism.
Dixon Vaz, Sarpanch, VP Cavelossim
Goa’s image has been affected by various factors. There are so many touts, who are out to cheat all the tourists. They say they will take them to the clubs and they get them thrown out of the clubs without returning their money. The touts have finished the name of Goa. If you see the social media, the tourists and the influencers are shouting hoarse, not to go to Goa due to the cheating.
The name of Goans is getting spoilt, but there won’t be even one percent Goans among these touts. Tourism is in a very bad state today. Even as we had asked the Tourism Department to give us permissions to start the season early before Dussera and Diwali, there were not tourists during Dussera or Diwali. We were relying on domestic tourists in the shacks, but they too have stopped coming to the shacks due to the touts. Touts have destroyed our reputation.
Cruz Cardozo,