Goa Not For Middle Class Indians? Minister Wants Only Rich Tourists, Not Those Who "Spoil" Goa

Do you love Goa as much as we do? Are you a frequent traveller to the coastal state? If yes, you should know what Goa's tourism minister said recently.

Goa tourism minister Manohar Ajgaonkar said that the state welcomes rich tourists and does not want low-budget travellers "cooking food inside buses". You read that right!

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"We want richest tourists"

He said that tourists consuming drugs were not welcome in Goa. ¡°We don¡¯t want tourists who consume drugs. We don¡¯t want tourists who spoil Goa. We don¡¯t want tourists who come to Goa and cook food inside a bus. We want the richest tourists. We welcome all tourists but they should enjoy themselves while respecting Goa¡¯s culture,¡± he said.

We don¡¯t want tourists who consume drugs& who spoil Goa. We don¡¯t want tourists who come to Goa& cook food inside a bus. We want richest tourists. We welcome all tourists but they should enjoy themselves while respecting Goa¡¯s culture: Goa Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar y'day pic.twitter.com/5eL2fvW0fj

¡ª ANI (@ANI) October 20, 2021

'Not allow cruise ships with drugs to dock in Goa'

Goa ports minister Micheal Lobo on Tuesday said that he will write to the Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) not to allow cruise ships found with ¡®drugs¡¯ to dock in Goa.

Lobo¡¯s comments come in the light of the Goa-bound cruise ship that was raided by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on October 2 after which Aryan Khan, son of actor Shah Rukh Khan was arrested in Mumbai.

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Last year, the Goa government banned budget tourists cooking in public spaces and made it a punishable offence.

He also welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to award five lakh free visas to international tourists. "Tourism is going to open up. The PM has announced five lakh free visas. Charter flights will begin now. We have already waived fees to the tune of 50 per cent related to shack and hotel licences," The Ahmedabad Mirror quotes Ajgaonkar also as saying.

Similar statements made in the past

Feb, 2018

But this isn't the first time bizarre statements regarding tourists in Goa have made headlines. Earlier, in Feb 2018, calling Indian tourists ¡°scum of the earth¡±, Goa Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai, had cautioned particularly against ¡°North Indians¡± who he claimed wanted to ¡°create a Haryana in Goa¡±.

The minister was speaking at the Goa BizFest in Bambolim. At the business event, he also contradicted Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar¡¯s target of one crore tourists and asked the government to attract foreign and upper-class Indian tourists.

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Jan, 2018

In Jan 2018, state minister for agriculture and town and country planning Vijai Sardesai said that Goa needs to reorient its tourism policy towards high-end foreign tourists while seeking ways to discourage domestic tourists who come in buses and do not contribute to the state's economy.

"Goa should become so expensive that tourists should say that it is not worth coming to Goa. Which tourists ... the Indian tourists. We must have high end facilities and get high end tourism, which benefits the sons of the soil," Sardesai said.