Fiona,

This will no doubt end up with top end hotels dominating Goa and all the smaller businesses being pushed out.

Globalisation will kill the Goa we all loved.

However nothing stays the same and something has to be done to reverse the decline we have seen.

A proper waste disposal and street cleaning plan would be a great start. Followed by a clean up of the corrution endemic in Goa.

Pigs might fly I suppose.

Papa

hi papa
with 92 views and nobody replying I was beginning to think I was the only one interested in the article I think there is a happy medium that could be obtained. Thailand has far more upmarket hotels and a better infrastructure than Goa( generalising a bit I know) but still can be relatively cheap to visit. But I think it will go the way of Mumbai- where quite frankly hotels can be far more expensive than Thailand( like for like). You certainly don't get the mounds of rubbish in Thaland that you get in Goa. Beaches are cleaner but of course, Thailand does not have the row upon row of shacks, which is what most people like about Goa. The question is, has the price you pay got a lot to do with the reason you return?

For us Fiona last year we decided to go for far more upmarket accomodation and paid for two weeks what some people would pay for the season.

We came back because we love goa. Costs of course while you are there are very cheap compared to even Thailand.

Thailand beats Goa hands down for hotel standards and cleanliness.

Maybe what you say about a happy medium would be best.

The need to start though on the basics. Law and order, corruption, sanitation and refuse collection.

As regards no one replying it is of course off season for Goa so not so many members checking in.

HT like many other forums regardless of interest are suffering because of social media.

Forums as we know them may not be around in another 5 years. Nothing stands still with the internet.

I agree with your point about the basics.
As for social media- its a shame that although we can still get folks checking in on the forums and reading the posts, they don't post as they used to. We probably need to become more like facebook to survive.

For what it's worth, I would like to endorse everything in the above post.

No matter how low the price, the conditions, law and order situation, etc are no longer acceptable.

And if you pay for a top of the range resort, the moment you leave it's pristine precincts you are surrounded by the same hassles and filth that the guy staying in a beach hut faces.................

Botany Bay
I think what you say is correct- but the high class tourists will probably not step outwith the hotel grounds, unless its on excursions.

Yes,

Even I have been to a few AI in the Carribean where the only time you leave the hotel is for an organised excursion.

You see it in Thailand with the Japanese tourists.

Goa has a very long way to go to attract that level of tourist though.

Another interesting article.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Calangute-locals-want-action-against-illegal-activities/articleshow/39908857.cms

A first timer reading it may well change their travel plans.

I must go around with my eyes closed

Me too.

Fiona HT Mod wrote:

Botany Bay
I think what you say is correct- but the high class tourists will probably not step outwith the hotel grounds, unless its on excursions.

In which case Fiona, they are putting very little into Goa itself, as a lot of the hotels are not Goan owned, those that are will just involve making a few very wealthy Goans even wealthier, and most employees in larger hotels are not Goans either.

That is of course the AI argument in every country. However, usually the employees in these hotels are at least local. Why are most employees not Goans? I haven't stayed a large hotel.

Because they come from less affluent areas of India!

Just like in UK you are looked after (often behind the scenes) by Polish. Albanians, Romanians etc...... population wise, India is much bigger than Europe and has far more poverty.

So the Indian guy who waits on you, cleans your room, cleans the pool, etc etc is VERY unlikely to be Goan. If asked, he will tell you he is, as he has worked out this is the correct answer.

Goan youth want an easy life...... drive a taxi, sell easy-money stuff (I leave it to your imagination), a few local shops, but most "tourist" shopkeepers are Kashmiri/Gujus, and even in the local markets, many fresh produce sellers are Karnatakans.

As a "holidaymaker", you would probably not notice as they would all look the same, but trust me, the immigrant labour controversy in Goa is almost as bad in Goa as in the UK

I think the Indian Government need to realise that to attract "the right kind of tourist" you need to offer something in return.

A decent airport, collection of rubbish, pavements etc