Goa choking on its tourist success

Goa's infrastructure is beginning to crumble under the load of visitors, says the tourism industry that has called for an immediate upgrade of facilities.

The state, which has a population of 1.4 million, receives some 2.5 million tourists each year. Of this, between 300,000 and 400,000 are foreigners, mainly from Europe.

''We cannot indefinitely push for more tourists. Our infrastructure is not sufficient, and it needs an upgrade,'' said Ralph de Souza, president of the Travel & Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) who is from the locally prominent de Souza hoteliers group.

TTAG believes Goa's lone Dabolim Airport urgently needs ''expansion and modernisation'', including area for its arrival lounge, proper conveyor belts, and parking bays for aircraft.

Dabolim Airport is controlled by the Indian Navy, prompting industry and politicians to say it is badly bottlenecked.

''A few years ago, Dabolim got half-a-dozen flights a day. Today there are over 40 flights daily, plus international flights, charter flights, and naval flights,'' said de Souza.

Parking bays are insufficient, and parallel taxi bays are needed, he added. A new proposed airport would take ''at least eight to 10 years'' to commence operations, he added.

''The staff has smiling faces (at the airport), but physically the building is old and not sufficient for the growing number of tourists,'' said Abdullah Cankaya, deputy general director of the Moscow-based Pegas Touristik.

Goa's TTAG tourism lobby has pushed for visas-on-arrival, especially for British, Russian and Scandinavian tourists who form the bulk of the foreign market here.

Garbage is growing all round in Goa, a destination whose earlier USP used to be cleanliness. The tourism boom is itself probably contributing to the garbage woes.

Courtesy:ndtv.com
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