Letter on tourism in Goa...

----------------------------------------------------------
***** CHRISTMAS PARTIES 2002 *****

Dec 21 - GOA-LA, Los Angeles, +1 (714) 821-6168

Contact goanet-admin-fkB0aodkGtPQT0dZR+AlfA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx for a free party 
announcement

Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/goa-net/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Goanet2003/
----------------------------------------------------------

Attached is a letter written to the Gomantak Times but it was not 
published.

           MINISTERIAL BLUNDERING


I was totally surprised and disappointed when I read that the 
Minister of Tourism in Goa has actually suggested that loud music 
which under Goa's present law is restricted after 10 p.m.(but rarely 
enforced) is to be extended so that with this change, tourists from 
Europe and elsewhere will hopefully come out in droves to boost up 
the tourist industry in Goa.  I guess that the Minister must be 
badly disillusioned or is very new to the tourist business.  

I have been holidaying in Goa every year for the past seven years, 
and my experience has been that quite a number of tourists will not 
return to Goa because it has become so noisy.  If the Minister of 
Tourism were to make an analysis of tourists coming to Goa, he may 
be surprised to learn that the majority of tourists are generally 
forty and over and that many of them come to Goa for two reasons.  
First of all, the price is right, and secondly, most tourists hope 
to have a quiet holiday particularly on the beach.  This is not to 
suggest that older tourists do not expect to have a night life but 
they generally want to turn in early after spending the day at the 
beach.  Loud music only adds to the frustration of these tourists as 
do the proliferation of dogs and messy cattle on the beaches of Goa. 

I have generally stayed in hotels where some of these tourists 
reside, and it is very disconcerting to hear the comments that are 
made at breakfast time about the total lack of consideration of 
hotel managers after this loud music has been drawn to their 
attention, and goodness nothing is done about it.  

Even during the day, these hotels play their music so loud that not 
only the neighbours, but those staying in the hotel are absolutely 
frustrated.  Many European tourists will not complain about these 
conditions, after all, they are guests in the country.  They will 
simply move away to other places where they can get peace and quiet. 
 Generally speaking, it has been my experience that the waiters in 
the hotels control music, and most of the music is played by these 
teenage waiters with the volume all the way up. Hotel managers who 
have in many cases been elevated to management status from waitering 
will not intervene because they don?t know any better.  I know that 
many of the regular tourists and those who have only just ventured 
into Goa are now looking to South India or other tourist 
destinations around the world for peace and quiet.  You know what 
that means to the tourist industry in Goa.

I have never really understood why some Goans and some Indians play 
their music (radios in particular) so very loud. Bus travel can be 
hazardous to one?s health, and only half an hours travel in one of 
these chambers of horror can not only reduce ones hearing  
significantly but also give one a terrible headache.  Some private 
homes  also seem to play their radios and stereos so loud that one 
can hear them a mile away.  Surely noise pollution should also be 
the concern of everybody and not only the government!

When you deal with a foreigner from the West, these tourists are 
used to civilized constraints being exercised while playing any 
music and one is always aware about the responsibilities of keeping 
one's neighbours comfortable. 

Music is therefore played very softly so that it could be heard at 
room level.  This is what the Western tourist enjoys at a premium. 
When Westerners come to Goa it would seem that nobody wants to 
listen to their pleas for similar constraints, (and why shouldn?t 
they make these demands, after all they are the ones who are being 
lured into Goa on the pretext that they will get the comforts that 
they seek even if they are absent in their own environment) and now 
we have a Government Minister of Tourism who is actually encouraging 
the escalation of this problem.  Very Bad Move Indeed!!!

Since my retirement, I have found Goa to be a wonderful place to 
spend a few months away from the Canadian winter.  Because of the 
loud music experience well into the night, my wife and I have moved 
from one accommodation to another in search of peace and quiet.  
These places are becoming few and far between. We travel half way 
around the world to Goa seeking a quiet holiday, and spend a whole 
lot of money while we are there, yet we do not find ourselves 
satisfied with the total lack of consideration exhibited by hotel 
managers and their ill trained managers.

As a result, very reluctantly, we, like so many others, are 
therefore seriously considering others alternatives to Goa. We will 
be looking for other tourist destinations such as the West Indies.  

This is a very sad and humbling feeling since we love Goa and Goans 
with a passion, but we have decided that we would rather go 
somewhere that offers some semblance of peace and tranquillity which 
is not only becoming a rare commodity but also distinctively 
illusive in most tourist areas in Goa. 

The Minister of Tourism's plans to worsen the problem, by 
encouraging loud music well into the early hours of the morning is 
the final nail in the coffin as far as we are concerned.. If his 
plan is implemented, it will definitely be a retrogressive step in 
helping the tourist industry move forward.  

>From your editorial page, I also notice that there is a sizable 
resentment by Goans in Goa about the move to allow music well into 
the night.  It is my hope that the minister will step back and give 
his decision some serious thought.  After all he is in office to 
serve the people of Goa and not only some special interest groups..
========================================================================
Ongoing: Exhibition of paintings, Art Chamber, Calangute www.goa-art.com
Dec  19-22: Gauri Divan's studio pottery, Rust, Aguada Rd Ph 2479340
Dec 23-Jan 7: Dayanita Singh's photo exhibition, Art House Tel 2276123
Jan  18-19: International kite carnival at Morgim beach, Pernem
========================================================================