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'Idli-sambar is available to eat on the main roads but the shacks on Goa beaches, which were started to give employment to local Goans, cannot sell idli-sambar.'
Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Goa Michael Lobo has stirred a hornet's nest with his statement that the sale of idli-sambar in Goa's beach shacks is causing a decline in international tourist footfall in the state.
Goa is one of the top tourist destinations in India, among both Indian and foreign travellers.
The Indian government's tourism site (<em) showed that 7 million domestic tourists and 170,000 foreign tourists visited Goa in 2022.
Even in Covid-hit 2021, some 3.3 million Indians and 200,000n foreigners visited Goa.
"Cultural change in Goa has taken place in a big way. You come to Calangute and go up to Baga, you will see 70-80 vegetarian restaurants. You cannot have big boards and hoardings stating 'Vegetarian Only restaurants'," Michael Lobo tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com.
Your statement that idli-sambar is driving away tourists from Goa is making national news. Do you really believe in what you said?
Let me clarify by stating I took a press conference in Goa on Thursday. The purpose was to highlight the fact that the tourist inflow is on a constant decline, be it foreign tourists or Indian tourists. They are not coming to Goa in big numbers as they used to some years ago.
The high end Indian tourists are going to Vietnam, Thailand, Dubai or even Sri Lanka but not coming to Goa.
We as a state have failed to put things in place, be it on issues like local taxi owners or cab aggregators.
But why did you make the statement on idli-sambar?
I was talking about the beach shacks of Goa. They are given to people of other states. These outsiders who are not from Goa, they take clubs, resorts and even restaurants on rent. Now even the Goa beach shacks have started going on rent to outsiders.
These beach shacks were meant to protect the employment of local Goans who in turn would showcase Goan cuisine and culture on the beaches of Goa. Whenever the tourists hit the beaches of Goa they can try prawn curry rice, Recheado masala, fish curry and beer.
But these beach shacks unfortunately have been let out to outsiders and that is why I raised the question whether they will serve Goan cuisine in Goa or idli-sambar.
I am not against idli-sambar as it is available on the main roads of Goa. I am against selling idli-sambar in the beach shacks of Goa. There were other issues too that were highlighted yesterday to the media.
What other issues?
Like dog bites. There are so many stray dogs roaming on the streets and beaches of Goa. Tourists complain about dog bite, but what are we doing about it?
Yesterday I gave an example of when we had garbage problem in Calangute. I sat with the late chief minister of Goa, Manohar Parrikar, and solved this issue. We spent Rs 250 crore (Ra 2.5 billion) on setting up a garbage plant whereby coastal garbage gets treated into electricity.
All I am saying is corrective measures need to be taken by the government and department of tourism. I am not blaming anybody but if we don't do anything to solve the issue now, we will only get idli-sambar on the beaches of Goa.
In other words, you don't want idli-sambar to be sold on Goa's beaches?
100 percent! Idli-sambar is available on the main roads of Goa where people sell these things. Right from Candolim to Baga beach, plenty of restaurants which are vegetarian have mushroomed in big numbers.
These vegetarian restaurants have defeated the business of local Goans and many of them have rented out the place to outsiders from Belgaum, Mangalore or Bangalore.
Idli-sambar is available to eat on the main roads but the shacks on Goa beaches, which were started to give employment to local Goans, cannot sell idli-sambar.
So what should the government do?
The government must not allow anybody to come and set up shacks in Goa. The beaches of Goa belong to the Goa government and people of Goa. It has to be given only to local Goans.
Is it illegal to sublet beach shacks to outsiders?
Yes, it is 100 percent illegal. If you give a beach shack in Goa to someone from Udupi in Karnataka, what do you expect him to sell on that shack?
The shack is meant only for unemployed Goans. They must showcase their cuisine.
If Goans want to sublet their property what is the harm?
Don't take ownership of shacks on Goa's beaches.
There are so many people from Goa who want to do this job. There are 386 shacks on Goa's beaches and you as a Goan cannot win the shack lottery and then sell that shack to some outsider.
There are 30 of these shacks who are doing this kind of job whereas the rest of them are doing a fantastic job.
Non-vegetarian food lovers can go to restaurants which serve Goan food. Has so much cultural change taken place that Goan food is being replaced by idli-sambar?
Cultural change in Goa has taken place in a big way. You come to Calangute and go up to Baga, you will see 70-80 vegetarian restaurants. You cannot have big boards and hoardings stating 'Vegetarian Only restaurants'. What do you want to imply?
If the people want to eat vegetarian food in Goa it is their choice, isn't it?
People have a choice but then there are hoardings of vegetarian restaurants bigger than the restaurant size!
There are dos and don'ts we (restaurant owners) have to follow from the village panchayat. Things cannot go haywire.
What we read in newspapers is that tourism in Goa is falling because of the taxi mafia.
I have told this to the department of tourism and even the chief minister that we need to set up a coordination committee to come out with solutions.
Everything has a solution and we need to find a solution.
Tourists have enormous choice to visit other destinations across Asia. Earlier, Goa was THE destination for Indian as well as foreign tourists but now that is not happening.
Do you have any statistics on the decline in foreign tourists?
I don't have statistics but personally I can say that I have seen a decline in tourist numbers to Goa. This trend started after 2017 and post Covid it has declined further.
Young foreign tourists fly to Vietnam, Dubai or Sri Lanka. Chartered flight numbers have decreased. The reason also being the flights coming to Goa are very expensive. A Delhi to Goa return ticket can cost you Rs 30,000, and sometimes more than that.
I run four resorts in Goa. In one of our hotels earlier there used to be 100 foreigners out of 140 rooms but now we have only 30 rooms occupied by foreigners.