Colliding Continents

Friday, December 28, 2007

Round 1, Goa

The Indian government’s plans to build industrial parks in the Goa area has agitated opposition parties and environmental groups to the point that these organizations set Friday, December 28^th as a deadline for tourists to leave Goa. Opposition groups and environmentalists foresee their protests turning violent and have been urging tourists to leave. Travelers have taken heed of the potential violence and significant numbers are leaving Goa in order to avoid the potential confrontation between the government and opposition parties.

Secretary of Goa’s Movement Against SEZ (Special Economic Zones - where the construction of the industrial parks in question will take place), is quoted saying “No one wants to harm the tourists but we cannot assure our agitation would be peaceful…We are requesting them to leave Goa by December 28^th as protests may turn ugly in the days to come.”

Hotels are experiencing significant amounts of cancellations, almost forty percent just in the past two days. The local hotel industry is begging the government to intervene.

This is another case in point as to the Indian government’s inability to balance environmental concerns and tourism revenue management. As I mentioned in my previous posting, Chop it Down! Use it Once, it seems as if though President Patil’s government does not care. The tensions in Goa highlights the importance of having an environmentally conservative political platform, its impacts on tourism revenue and sustainability in many of today’s tourism hotspots.

Written at 1:40 PM by Sebastien.

0 comments links to this post

0 Comments: