The magic is over: no one comes to the famous party capital anymore

The sun is still beating down on the sands of Palolem Beach in South Goa, and the restaurants and beach sheds are full as usual. But for anyone who has visited India’s famous party state over the past few decades, a short tour of the waterfront reveals a dramatic transformation. The backpackers, hippies and tourists who arrived on charter flights from Western Europe and Russia, those who shaped the tropical aesthetics of the place for years, have almost completely disappeared.

Their place was taken by a huge wave of domestic tourism. Although the number of travelers keeps the country vibrant and full of life, the dramatic departure of international visitors has placed the local economy, which relies largely on tourism, at a critical crossroads.

According to data released by the Goa Tourism Office, nearly 900,000 foreign tourists visited the country in 2017. By 2025, this number will drop to around half a million. In contrast, Indian domestic tourism has skyrocketed: from 6.8 million visitors in 2016 to more than 10 million in recent times.

On paper a full hotel room is always cause for celebration, but in practice the economic dynamics of these two target audiences are completely different. Local hoteliers point out that international guests tend to stay in Goa for significantly longer periods, spending much more money that permeates all parts of the local economy. While the average Indian tourist often prefers all-inclusive or full-board package deals, the foreign travelers tend to rent scooters, book independent tours and eat daily at the local restaurants and beach stalls. The decrease in the presence of foreigners leaves a clear and noticeable mark on the entire system.

The dropout of European tourists is not the hand of chance or a sudden change in the taste of travelers, but a direct result of an incredibly competitive global tourism market, which collides head-on with a series of internal problems that are piling up within Goa. At the head of these obstacles is the bureaucratic and logistical difficulty involved in actually arriving. The contemporary traveler is looking for spontaneity and quick decisions, but European tourists have to deal with a complex process of issuing an electronic entry visa (e-visa) in advance, which causes significant delays. If that’s not enough, there was a sharp increase in multi-year visa fees, along with a severe lack of direct flights.

Even when the international tourists already show toughness and go the long way, they encounter a frustrating local reality that stands in complete contradiction to the relaxed image of the place. At the center of the complaints is the local “taxi bakery”: the taxi unions in Goa are waging an aggressive fight and have blocked the entry of the technology giants and cooperative travel such as Uber and Ola. For a foreign tourist disembarking from a long-haul flight, having to deal with exorbitant and unregulated taxi fares, with no digital alternative, feels like a return to the Stone Age.

In addition, although the government has increased its efforts to keep the coastal strip itself clean, the roads leading to the beaches are often lined with piles of garbage and suffer from heavy traffic, a daunting sight for foreign visitors who attach the utmost importance to cleanliness and proper infrastructure.

While Goa has become more expensive and logistically cumbersome, its Southeast Asian neighbors have used the past decade to position themselves as cheaper, cleaner, and far more modern alternatives. Countries like Vietnam, Thailand and Sri Lanka manage to attract the global traveler through a complete exemption from visa or a simple process of visa upon landing.

An equally critical point is the hotel supply: the competing destinations offer plenty of quality resorts on the waterfront at affordable prices. In Goa, on the other hand, the flourishing of domestic tourism along with the growing market of business conferences and weddings, led to a jump in the prices of hotels in the high levels of hospitality. The few hotels that remain on the coastline and offer affordable prices, often suffer from outdated infrastructure, power outages and stuttering internet. On the other hand, a traveler who chooses destinations such as Da Nang in Vietnam or Bali in Indonesia, can easily secure accommodation at a four- or five-star resort, which includes a full package, and at a fraction of the price.

Goa’s tourism office admits that the country may not have fought for tourism for too long, thinking that the historic charm, the white Portuguese churches and the slow, relaxed lifestyle (the “susgad”) will continue to do the job on their own. But now the local government is launching a series of aggressive countermeasures in order to win back the international customers. Representatives of the country have started holding exhibitions and events, marking the Scandinavian countries as the next destination, alongside future plans to attract new target audiences from Asia and Africa. At the same time, the authorities are trying to shift the emphasis from uncontrolled over-tourism towards eco-tourism, highlighting inland attractions such as Dudhsagar Falls and cultural heritage routes.