Alexandre Moniz Barbosa
On September 12, 2024, the Goa government wrote to The House of Abhinandan Lodha Group directing them to withdraw the controversial advertisement that was captioned, ‘Delhi, Rulers Of India, Now Conquer Goa’, as it was deemed to be ‘highly objectionable and obnoxious and has hurt the sentiment of Goan people’. The company immediately responded stating that the advertisement has already been withdrawn.
The matter of the advertisement ended there, but it raised another issue of how Goan real estate, villas, apartments are being marketed as investment opportunities and the targeted buyers are not Goans but people from outside the State.
A cursory surfing of the internet for such advertisements led to a barrage of such promotional popups surfacing on my social media accounts. Those advertisements may not have been ‘objectionable’ in language or content, but they definitely piqued my curiosity further as the underlying sales pitch was tourism. What I discovered was not just advertisements, but articles that were promoting Goa as a real estate investment destination.
On the National Real Estate Development Council website, naredco.in, is an extract from an article that appeared in a national newspaper, which is relevant to the current discussion. It states, ‘Goa, once synonymous with sandy beaches, vibrant nightlife, and a quintessential escape for tourists, is undergoing a remarkable transformation. This coastal paradise is now a top choice for affluent Indians looking to invest in luxury real estate, shifting its identity from a mere vacation spot to a prestigious investment haven.’
Promoting Goa as an investment destination, Brikitt.com states, ‘Traditionally an ideal destination for a fun holiday or a cozy honeymoon, Goa has eventually developed in terms of real estate development. The increase in the purchasing power of people and the growing number of high-net worth individuals has made Goa a perfect investment destination.’
‘Goa,’ states Spectra Hospitality Services on their website, ‘is now regarded as a prime investment hub where the high level of tourism has stimulated the number of buildings to occupy the holidaymakers and the existing property holders are gleaning great value out of it.’
Among these, what appeared pertinent in the context of the much-debated issue in Goa, was an article on the Bhutani Infra website stating that Goa is the perfect place for anyone considering investing in India and adding, ‘So whether you are looking for a rental income, capital appreciation, or a piece of paradise, Goa can prove to be the perfect destination for you.’ Bhutani, to put things into perspective, is in the eye of a storm over a project in Sancoale.
Run an internet search using the words ‘Goa investment property tourism’ or such similar terms and then scroll through the results. You have a choice of sites to pick from and for the interested investor, all the necessary details.
The keyword in this is tourism and how it has catapulted Goa from being a holiday destination to an investment hub.
Poetreehomes.com, another website, links real estate investment in Goa directly to tourism. It states, ‘Goa has moved beyond tourism and attracts investors seeking holiday homes, rental income or long-term capital appreciation.’ It lists a few factors to consider when investing in real estate in Goa and tourism influence is the first listed, stating, ‘Goa is a popular tourist destination, and this influences the real estate market. Areas with high tourist footfall may offer rental income potential, especially during the peak tourist season.’
It further states, ‘We at Poetree Homes understand the influence of tourism in Goa and therefore we design our properties to provide a resort-like ambience with modern amenities such as infinity pool, clubhouse and landscaped gardens. Our properties are best suited for those who are looking to settle down in Goa permanently as well as for those who are purchasing properties solely for investment purposes and expect handsome returns on investment.’
Goa as a real estate investment destination has been discussed, but the connection to tourism has not been debated. This, however, is not a new phenomenon and tourism leading to real estate investment is not restricted to Goa, but has been experienced by other tourism destinations too. It is often termed as residential tourism or even retirement tourism, where affluent citizens buy or rent properties in tourism destinations and move there either permanently or temporarily. There are examples on the net of Costa Rica in the Caribbean facing this and so is the Algarve in South Portugal. Goa, therefore, can learn from how these other tourism destinations are adapting to it or are resisting it.
Studies have revealed that residential tourism leads to pressures on land as well as local resources. The paper ‘Tourism turning real estate’ by Femke van Noorloos, states that ‘studies suggest that rapid development of residential tourism in developing countries can endanger local populations’ access to land and may lead to displacement.’ This is precisely what Goa is experiencing, perhaps at an early stage, but unchecked at the onset, could escalate.
To put it further into perspective, the paper Residential Tourism (De)Constructing Paradise by Salem Harahsheh states that, ‘Residential tourism is a complex and difficult to define concept and some researchers do not recognize it as a tourism activity. Some call residential tourism as a second-home tourism, life-style tourism, retirement or migration tourism although it is clear they are using the term ‘tourism’ when referring to this phenomenon.’
Goa is definitely experiencing the residential tourism and perhaps has not realised that the investment boom in real estate is another form of tourism. It is marked by change of landscapes and in the Goa context, residential tourism is the process of changing green hills and plateaus into manicured lawns and swimming pools with concrete villas and apartments that are picked up by investors from outside the State.
There are two types of residential tourists. Harahsheh typifies these stating, ‘Those who visit the destination in certain seasons and hire private apartments are called temporary stayers, while those who buy and own their residencies and stay for longer periods or permanently are called residential tourists.’ Again, Goa has both kinds.
While this form of tourism may be surfacing in an obvious manner at the current time, investing in Goa’s real estate is not a new trend, and the direct link to tourism and how this industry has spurred the real estate market, especially the luxury real estate market, has been there.
Vishvesh Kandolkar in the paper Consuming Goa Portuguesa: Vacationing in a Postcolonial Colony, published in 2020 wrote, ‘Consequently, by the 2000s, the nation’s familiarity with Goa as a holiday destination had given way to real estate investments. Through carefully crafted e-brochures, online advertisements and commercial websites, the real estate market in Goa has catered to the desires of the upwardly mobile Indian middle class, selling them the idea of second homes in this exotic holiday destination through the use of colonial-era language and imagery.’
Kandolkar wrote further that, ‘…the passage of time has seen Goa transform from solely a tourist destination to a site for property ownership for non-Goans.’
As per the above it’s been happening for some two decades now, perhaps there were not so ‘in-your-face’ marketing strategies, and so were overlooked, but the marketing of Goa as a second home, as an investment opportunity is definitely not a new phenomenon.
What tourism has done for Goa is transformed it from a holiday destination to an investment opportunity. Investment, because the advertisements, or articles as quoted above, are speaking of returns on investment from rentals. While many of these are marketing Goa for real estate investment, it is ironic that three decades ago there was a similar marketing blitzkrieg that was aimed at Goans.
In the 1990s, when tourism started picking up and there was need for hotel rooms, local real estate and construction companies announced apartments for sale with rent-back facilities. These were essentially sold as investments. Projects were envisaged in the coastal areas, where anybody could book a studio or a single-bedroom apartment, that the builder would rent back from the owner for a period of about eight months that coincided with the tourism season in Goa. This apartment was then made available to tourists, specifically the cheap charter tourists who were looking at budget options.
Incidentally, at that time, a significant number of construction companies in Goa had tourism interests and some even ran the rent-back apartments as hotels. For them it was a win-win situation for they had succeeded in constructing a hotel with minimum investment of their own as the studio apartments had been purchased by investors hoping to earn on their investments by renting it back to the builder for part of the year. That led to the first construction boom in Goa, one that the serious builders were not pleased with at the onset, though, in due course of time, many of these too entered the hospitality industry.
They came, they saw, they... well in the true sense of the word they may not have conquered, but certainly they have come to stay. This was one scenario that the tourism critiques of the past had not foreseen. While the fallback of tourism had been linked to drugs, prostitution, gambling, environmental degradation, the possibility of Goa being swamped by resident tourists had escaped notice. But, it has arisen and Goa has a new issue to handle, one that is worthy of being discussed on World Tourism Day.
(The writer is an independent journalist and author)
References
Links to websites quoted in the article above
https://www.bhutanigroup.com/blog/Why-is-Goa-emerging-as-the-next-investment-destination/
https://spectrahospitality.com/goa-new-destination-for-india-and-global-investors/
https://poetreehomes.com/real-estate-investment-in-goa
https://naredco.in/goas-transformation-tourist-destination-luxury-real-estate-haven-financial-express
https://brikitt.com/return-on-investment-on-property-in-goa/#:~:text=Traditionally%20an%20ideal%20destination%20for,Goa%20a%20perfect%20investment%20destination