16/04/2025
The primary reason to write here is for us to understand tourism in Goa with all its complexities, flaws and challenges.
To quote pioneering journalist Joan Didion "I don't know what I think till I write it down." With 2 decades plus of having worked in the tourism sector in Goa we have witnessed the transformation, there is a lot that we see in our rear-view mirror. The challenge now, is to document our experiences to make it meaningful.
Meaningful it surely will be if we manage to articulate successfully what we have experienced. There are so many stories, anecdotes and then there is the most beautiful and charming land of Goa. There are peers we admire and there is the inherent Goan laid back hospitality which is very difficult to articulate but very easy to experience if you are in Goa.
Living and working in Goa has been a privilege for us, there is something here that attracts the dreamers, those want to make a difference with a laid-back lifestyle.
Goa was the first European colony in Asia, one of the last regions to integrate with India we got liberated in 1961. It was only the second state in India to have a non-congress government. In this backdrop when no one was looking, Goa was discovered by a handful of hippies who lived with the locals and adapted their lifestyle. They respected the locals, and the locals opened their homes by the beaches for them to live and think all they wanted. From then to 2025 the story of Goa has so many lessons for all of us. If we learn from these lessons, we could be a better destination, citizens and state.
We are writing to understand, learn and the spread the story of this tiny state and its wonderful people. Goa has been in the negative end of the narrative lately but trust us that it is only 1 part of the story the larger picture is very different, we say that with some conviction of being here for the last 2 decades.
