‘Footfall nowhere near what it used to be’: In Goa, shack owners say buzz from tourists is missing

“Christmas used to be quite a busy time earlier. We expected more tourists…though the footfall has increased over the last few days, it is nowhere where it used to be,” Cruz Cardozo, president of the Goa Shack Owners Welfare Society, says.

“Foreign tourists and tourists that spend more are largely missing at the shacks. At Ozran beach, occupancy is around 30 per cent. People are probably choosing to go to Thailand, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, which are relatively cheaper destinations. This is concerning,” he said.

Beach shacks are typically built from eco-friendly material such as bamboo, wooden poles and thatched palm leaves. The government allows unemployed persons of Goan domicile to operate these “temporary” shacks on the beachfront during the peak tourist season from September 1 to May 31.

While these shacks have in the past been a major attraction for foreign visitors to Goa, Cardozo says there has been a surge in the footfall of domestic tourists visiting the shacks over the last few years. “But if they don’t spend, then what is the point? Our clientele is different. Some tourists come to Goa in a jeep from another state. They do not book a hotel and leave after spending a day on the beach. We don’t get a lot of business from them,” says Cardozo.

He says that while Goa had a “great season” in 2021 as the pandemic restrictions began to be lifted, in subsequent years, travellers started to get attracted to destinations in other parts of the world due to their visa policies and better infrastructure. While the wars in Russia-Ukraine and West Asia were blamed initially for a decline in the number of foreign tourists coming to this part of the world, Cardozo points out that Thailand is currently “full of tourists”.

Last month, Goa’s tourism infrastructure was in the spotlight after a viral social media post claiming that “foreign tourists have abandoned the state” had triggered a barrage of reactions, with many sharing their negative experiences of visiting the state and others claiming that people were now heading to destinations such as Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam, instead.

Amid this online discourse, the Goa government issued a “rebuttal”, saying that comparing a state to a country like Sri Lanka may yield an “inaccurate perspective”. The government said the state experienced a “robust resurgence” in domestic tourism, with over 80 lakh domestic visitors in 2023, which it said surpasses pre-pandemic figures. The government also said 4.5 lakh foreign tourists visited Goa last year.

However, for many shack owners this year, there is a worrying slump in business. Shreedhar, who runs ‘Lucky Shack’ at Ozran beach, says, “Apart from at Mandrem, Morjim and Arambol, there are few foreign tourists, and the tourists who are coming here order just one beer and a drink. I made only Rs 1,000 on Monday. If this continues, we will run into losses.”

Empty shacks of Goa in recent times. (Express Photo)

According to Sreedhar, one of the things the government could to make shacks more attractive to tourists is allow shack owners additional space outside the shacks to put up deck beds. “Foreign tourists want privacy. They don’t like to sit in a congested area. If we are allowed additional space of 3 metres, we can put some more deck beds,” he said.

Some shack owners say a “vilification” campaign is being run against Goa on social media by some “influencers”, which could lead to a perception change in the minds of tourists in the long run.

Sebastian D’Souza, a shack owner in Candolim, says that even though business was slow when the season started, footfall has picked up over the last fortnight ahead of New Year festivities and music festivals, and that shacks in the Candolim-Baga-Calangute stretch are now reporting full occupancy.

“Some YouTubers and influencers are running a selective campaign to malign Goa. They are promoting destinations like Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. On social media, they set an agenda…about what a tourist should do or where they should go and what the itinerary should be,” he says.

John Lobo, who has been associated with the shack owners’ welfare society for several years, says, “We can’t just keep saying there are fewer tourists. Goa should aim to attract high-spending tourists by providing better infrastructure. We need to provide better facilities on the beaches, including good toilets, changing rooms, electricity, power supply and proper roads.”