Archdiocese of Goa, Daman and Diu on Tourism and its impacts on Coastal Communities
Consultant Feb, 2006- until Feb 2009
The Archdiocese of Goa, Daman and Diu on Tourism and its impacts on Coastal Communities has been working on issues of the negative impacts of tourism for many years. However, since 2006, November, there was a decision to restart the initiative in a full fledged manner with a comprehensive programme that would engage people on the coasts to oppose the negative impacts of tourism and foster patterns of leisure travel and recreation which are rooted in values of justice, peace, and development for all. This vision accords primacy to the notion of mutually beneficial encounters between visitors and hosts for a sharing of goods, for rich cultural exchanges, for approaching natural or artistic beauty, for a comparison between different mentalities, traditions and religions and ultimately for the enrichment of the human spirit.
The vision is based on the understanding that tourism is, above all, the quest for a form of spirituality that acquires the traits of a pilgrimage. A pilgrim goes off in search of God and in the pursuit of truth. God’s truth cannot be found outside the ambit of justice and true community. Hence tourism must seek to instill stewardship values of God’s world of people, the mountains, seas, islands, the air, the birds, the trees- indeed all of God’s precious creation.
The intent was to build a just and sustainable tourism in Goa rooted in the Christian teachings of love and caring for all of God’s peoples, and to demonstrate in the arena of tourism the spirit of caring and responsibility for human dignity. This mission impinges on us to pursue pathways of tourism that include ideas and values where:
- Cultural identities of host communities are affirmed and protected.
- People centeredness counts (Host community as the architects and proponents of tourism)
- Nature is seen as an essential part of God’s creation and the obligation to protect and respect it from extinction or abuse is viewed as a vital precondition in tourism.
- Solidarity and Advocacy- especially with and for those who become victims of the tourism industry’s exploitative ways- is affirmed.
- Cultural integrity so that people can protect their cultures from being commoditized
- Economic benefits of tourism accrue to local communities first and last.
- Women, children, and workers are accorded their human rights as a matter of justice.
- Criminalization of tourism spaces are opposed and a climate of goodwill takes its place.
- Common spaces such as beaches, forests, wild life habitats are treated as belonging to the commons and not privatized for the self aggrandizement of a few.
- Where heritage – wherever positive in orientation and scope- is viewed with pride and preserved for visitors as well as hosts.
As Consultant, I set up and trained a Core group of people from 23 coastal villages in Goa, set out a Vision Statement through participatory exercises and developed working objectives for community-based groups. The initiatives of each group varied according to the needs and priorities of each community group and their village context. In summary, the actions now include:
- Opposing the urbanization of coastal villages
- Fighting pedophilia
- Protecting local livelihoods
- Environmental management - including garbage/waste management geared to coastal protection.
- Promoting local entrepreneurships
- Studying alternative patterns of tourism – sites that are rarely visited but have grassroots significance.
- Promoting nature tourism
- Advocating for preserving heritage as cultural affirmation as opposed to allowing traditions to be discarded in preference for modernity.
- Affirming cultural identity as a solid base for mutuality between hosts and visitors
An important initiative within the scope of the work described above is to campaign and strategize for a Responsible Tourism in and through which the local communities benefit from tourism- not external operators. In other words, the attempt to skim away profits (income leakages) is avoided. In line with the above, and in addition to organizing the 23 community groups, CRT has organized various sectors including the Taxi Drivers, Shack Owners, and Small and medium Guest Houses.