--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2008 International Goan Convention Toronto, Canada
Early Bird Discount Registration closes March 31, 2008 http://www.2008goanconvention.com/regform_print.html --------------------------------------------------------------------------- EXPRESS EDITORIAL Incredible Goa Posted online: Thursday, March 20, 2008 at 2224 hrs Print Email Why advertise its coastline when the tourism industry cannot grow to cater to visitors? The Indian Express : Is Goa missing the beach for the sand? After the extended focus on the death by rape and murder of a 15-year-old British teenager, the state seems to be closing in on itself. The popular discourse emanating from Goa bears a striking desire for isolation. Incidents like the murder, goes the argument, are a blot on Goa's peaceful reputation. It is, argue some, a consequence of the seedy aspects of its famed party scene, the drugs especially. Goa must therefore be shielded from this influence that arrives with the visitor — both the tourist and the part-time resident. Thus the demands to stop real estate sales and to curb the revelry. The government is evidently keen to oblige. Already, new night curfews have been announced; henceforth, shacks shall not serve alcohol after 11 pm and they must shut down an hour later. Related Stories Kerala Oppn blames CPM for paddy lossLS stalled: BJP wields Kannur, Left ESMA on airport workersOnly Central forces can end Kannur mayhem: HC2 more killed, shoot-at-sight in Kannur'Maya must decide if she wants to be with Cong' Ad Links Self Defense Self Defense Pressure Points Self Defense Products The logic is certainly arresting. Seedy transactions are attaching themselves to fringes of the party circuit. So ban the party! So it is with real estate. A global mafia is said to be buying up land. So: do not allow anybody to buy land. Nobody need worry about the tourist. Goa is, of course, a special destination. A deeply traditional and outgoing society has shown itself to be graciously large-hearted in allowing outsiders to find recreation in the midst of the most beautiful landscapes. But starved of oxygen, the party does move on. It is Goa itself that would suffer the collateral damage, both to its service industry and to its amazing cosmopolitanism. Goa's people are being ill-served by a dominant discourse that blames tourism and development. (Just consider the unexplained decision by the state government to cancel 15 Special Economic Zones.) Goa's problem is that the industrial and tourism sectors are so underdeveloped — for evidence, ask anybody who tried to get a middle-tariff hotel room in Goa this past season. Without that infrastructure, it is difficult for the seaside state to assure consistent business to the ancillary service providers who attach themselves to the sector. In the absence of well-regulated service providers, parallel players move in. Goa's problem is not too much tourism, but too little. [EMAIL PROTECTED]