Goa taxi drivers’ strike hits tourists hard
Nov 30th, 2008 | By Sindh Today | Category: IndiaPanaji, Nov 30 (IANS) Tourists taxis in Goa stayed off the roads for the third consecutive day Sunday after a tiff with private tour operators, affecting a large number of tourists traveling to and within the state.
Taxi drivers throughout Goa are on a strike since Friday protesting against private tour operators conducting excursion trips for foreigners, which the taxi drivers claim is affecting their livelihood.
Florence Jones, a 29-year-old tourist who alighted at the Dabolim airport, had a tough time reaching Calangute, a major tourist hub in north Goa.
‘There were no taxis about. There were some motor-cycle taxis, which are unsafe for long distance travel. There were two yellow and black taxis outside the airport who were trying to fleece passengers. I paid Rs.2,500 for a ride to Calangute, which normally costs Rs.900,’ she said.
There were many others like Florence who found it difficult getting transportation from railway stations and bus terminals as well.
‘Why is this happening right in the middle of the tourist season? Doesn’t Goa need tourists anymore?’ asked a harried Gaurav Chopra, as he and his family scoured the bus terminal at Mapusa for a taxi to take him to Anjuna Sunday morning.
The stand-off between taxi drivers and tour operators goes back to the 1990s and successive governments have been unable to solve the issue.
The current stand-off has created a fissure in the government, with state Public Works Department Minister Churchill Alemao pitching his weight behind the taxi drivers, targeting Chief Minister Digambar Kamat and Tourism Minister Mickky Pacheco for not solving the problem.
A delegation of the striking Tourist Taxis Owners and Drivers Association met Kamat Saturday night, but there was no solution in sight.
‘We are the sons of the soils. The tour operators are depriving us of our income by conducting tours for foreigners. We want these tours to stop. Tour operators should only pick up passengers from the airport and drop them back,’ association spokesperson George Fernandes told IANS.
‘We have been assured that the tourism minister will meet us on Monday and find a solution,’ Fernandes said.
But thousands of tourists traveling to Goa have been put to hardship thanks to the ongoing tussle between tour operators and taxi drivers.
The situation took an ugly turn Friday when taxi drivers threw stones on travel operator-run tourist vehicles carrying domestic and foreign tourists in several parts of the state.
Ralph De Souza, president of the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa, condemned the incident and said: ‘We are already reeling under the effects of the Mumbai terror strikes. Such lawlessness will further cut down the number of tourists coming to Goa.’
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Monday 1st December
My wife and I have returned to the UK from Goa yesterday, we have been visitors to Goa every year since since 1992, and will continue to go in the future. However I was alarmed by the number of regular visitors who expressed the view that it was now time to look elsewhere in future. The taxi drivers strike was simply the last straw for many of these regular visitors. Escalating costs of international travel have not helped, and cancellation of booked flights due to the economic downturn have frustrated many would be visitors. In addition the changes in the way that visas are issued has left many people with difficulties, some of whom have been unable to obtain visas in time. So now we have the Taxi drivers strike to add to these difficulties. I can understand why the taxi drivers have a grievance, though it does appear that in the main it relates to Russian tour operators who are able to exploit the fact that most Russian tourists don’t understand English. Having said that, there is a small element within the taxi driver community who try to balance falling customers by increasing the fares quoted to such a degree that it becomes counter productive, people will at some point simply say no, stay on the beach and eat locally.
In fairness to the taxi drivers in the area we stayed in there was no attempt to block any travel to and from the Airport/Train Station, which would have had catastrophic results for the tourist industry (as it will in Thailand).
All I can say in summary is that Goa is a wonderful place to visit and the people are kind and friendly. There is a very strong reliance on tourism and a large contingent of regular visitors from the UK, but unless some of the issues that are resulting in the current malaise that is so evident in Goa, I can foresee that within the next five years the Uk tourist sector will reduce to a trickle and Goa will be left with tourist from countries who will have little allegiance to Goa and no empathy with it’s people, just more cassinos and guests concentrating and staying within isolated 5 star resorts, and that will encourage a downward spiral.
I wish Goa, and all my friends there, well, but as I said in the beginning I am for the first time in 20 visits alarmed by what I see and what people are telling me.
Much more effort is needed by senior authority to resolve the Taxi dispute (and the visa difficulties) but I do wonder if it is in the best interests of some of the key players in this dispute to do so.