Cultural Dimension:
The Indianess is existing in each Goan who will regard the person coming to the state with respect and love and will go all the way to help the person in need.

Social Dimension:
Goa is a land of merry-making, a land where there is sharing .Religious festivals are celebrated with lot of enthusiasm viz Ganesh Chaturthi, Holi, Shigmotsav , the Christians have San Joao festival, Samgodd-tying two canoes and put artifices over it and carnival. Goa’s Mando Folksongs and Dances , Sea food Festival are other entertainment events bringing people together.

Goa - A Tourist Destination:
People come to Goa for various reasons viz. for fun and enjoyment on the beaches and to eat delicacies and for pilgrimages

Goa Amche – Our Goa – The ill effects of Tourism
A song goes “ come from England, Come from Scotland, …. Come to Goa, come to Goa Goa Meri Hai (Goa is mine ) Ladies are nice , gents are full of spice come to Goa, come to Goa, Goa meri hai.

A report was read by the Diocesan Pastoral Council of Goa in October 1987 which highlighted the effects of Tourism and which is still relevant in modern times

1) STRESS ON RESOURCES & AMENITIES

A) Water – There is water scarcity all along the big Hotels are provided water on regular basis. water is pumped from well and bore well and water is becoming saline.

B) Electricity –There is a big problem of electricity and there are frequent power cuts and people are put in lot of hardship. The govt. has no systematic plan for electricity. All the big establishments are provided with lights and not the poor.

C) Essential food staff – The Goan has its unique eating habit common to all that is fish curry and rice . This is their important dish but the demand for fish is very high in the hotels so the common man suffers and the prices of fish is very exuberant and the other commodity is much more than compared to other places.

D) Transport - The transport system is not so good especially during the tourist season from September to May. The buses are filled to capacity and are overcrowded. There is no comfort and the women are target of teasing , pinching and so on. People getting into the buses are treated worse than animals like herd of sheep or Goat carried to the Slaughter houses.

E) Land – The land prices are soaring and rising everyday. The locals are given high remuneration to sell their land to the builder. A Goan is not able to buy land and especially near the coast. The Agricultural land is being used to put big structures.

2) ECOLOGICAL IMBALANCE & ENVIRONMENT DEGRADATION

A) Sea Pollution – The sea is polluted and the scenic beauty is spoiled. The waste from big hotels are dumped into the sea which leads to sea pollution and death of fishes.

B) Destruction of tree cover – Age old and beautiful trees are chopped to beautify the cities and tourist place. The tree which is to act as a cover for the common man does not find place and becomes sources of obstruction and it follows that it must be removed by all means.

C) Defacement of the sea front – The coastal belt of the sea should be beautiful with trees, coconut plantation but one notices that there are big hotels that come close to the beaches and sometime the tourist is not able to venture into the sea because of the block created by these big hotels.

3) SOCIO-CULTURAL AND MORAL EFFECTS

A) Displacement of traditional Occupation –The traditional occupations of the people of Goa are farming, fishing, toddy-tapping etc. now with tourism people and especially the young generation does not want to get into tradition occupations. They want fast money. They take on to work in the hotels and sometimes are not paid the minimum wages, and also work in inhuman conditions.

B) Distortion and commercialization of culture – As explained before about Indian culture where there is respect for all but in Goa there is distortion of culture. The folk dances and mandoes that is sung are commercialized and performed in cheap ways especially on the cruises. There is imitation of alien life of the foreigners become hippies, nudism and free sex.

C) Destruction of values – Women are considered to be mother but the tourist considers women as thing – Tu cheez badi hai mast mast (you are a thing good). There is steep rise in prostitution. Many girls are becoming a prey and act as call girls satisfying customers. Children too are abused.

D) Spread of Drug abuse – There is secret import of drugs used by the tourist and slowly it has affected the youth who are affected by the drugs especially those staying at the coastal belt.

A) Cheap Labour – The labor classes are most affected . with the minimum wages they get they have to manage with regard to food, clothing shelter and education. With the high prices of all essentials it is difficult for the labor classes to survive. And especially if there is off season of tourism they have to find alternative job and some of them get involved in prostitution, robbery, murder and so on. The other problem is the migrant workers take less wage so they are preferred to the locals.

PASTORAL RESPONSE TO EVILS OF TOURISM

The Goa and Daman Diocese and especially the Archbishop Raul Nicolau Gonsalves responded very well to all the implications of tourism in Goa in his Pastoral letter dated 5th April 1989. He suggested some recommendations .

• He asked Catholic families to strengthen family bonds and Christian life and the parents to inculcate Gospel values to the children.
• He called on the Youth to work towards Renewal and Transformation of the society and to work with priests, religious, various associations and cultivate genuine values.
• He called on the people for simplicity of life and avoid all extravaganza during feasts and social function. They should love work and that white collar job should not be encouraged.
• He called on educational institutions, Diocesan Centers and Catholic Lay Associations to promote Education Programme to concientise people against evils of drug addiction, nudism, luxury tourism.
• He asked the church institutions to be vigilant is not accepting indiscriminately any type of donations or advertisements.

Conclusion
No doubt Tourism is good in itself but it has many evils in it and the evil is growing on and becoming a nuisance. The Church must awaken, must be able to boldly proclaim the evils of tourism which sometimes becomes a disrupting factor. The local church must prepare its people to face the challenges and stand by the people in moments of crises evolving from tourism. We are working towards Small Christian Community (SCC). All the issues dealing with the life of the people should come up for discussions in the SCC. The SCC must get involved in tourism planning and make the government to protect the interest of local community.

The priests must themselves be updated with the new unhealthy trends in the society and work in collaboration with the SCC and people of goodwill and build a community of struggle to fight the evils of tourism.

Thanks to:

Fr. Prakash O.P;
Reggie Gomes,
Neville Ferrao,
Collin, Savio
Lorraine Fernandes, Wilma D’souza
Goa Desk for helping me to prepare this paper.

PLEASE NOTE:
The above paper was presented at the 6th world Congress on the Pastoral care of tourism held in Bangkok Thailand from 5th to the 8th July 2004. It was organized by the PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR THE PASTORAL CARE OF MIGRANTS AND ITINERANT PEOPLE.

I was invited to make a speech to the Congress, lasting approximately 15 minutes, containing a reflection on the conference theme within the context of the pastoral activities of the church in India and, if possible, regarding Asia in general.

The theme of the Congress was “TOURISM AT THE SERVICE OF BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER.” There were around 100 participants from 30 countries of five continents.

At the meeting in Bangkok the participants shared their experiences, reflected on different aspects of tourism from their viewpoint and from the places they represented. At the end of the conference a detail study was made and an adequate pastoral response was formulated together. The participants included the Cardinals, Archbishops, Monsignors, priests, religious, nuns, and lay people all involved in some work with regard to tourism.

Fr. Francis Rozario OFM