In a recent open letter to Goa’s Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, lawyer and X user Ramanuj Mukherjee has responded forcefully to a police complaint filed against him by the Goa Tourism Department. The department accused Mukherjee of spreading false data regarding the decline in foreign tourist visits to Goa, which allegedly caused disruption to local businesses.
The controversy began when Mukherjee shared a post on X claiming that foreign tourist arrivals in Goa had plummeted, a statement the Goa Tourism Department has strongly refuted. According to the department, the data shared by Mukherjee was “wildly inaccurate” and did not reflect the current state of tourism in the state. In response, Mukherjee defended his post and claimed that his intention was not to harm Goa’s image but to highlight deeper issues within the state’s tourism sector.
In his letter, Mukherjee acknowledged the complaint and said he was ready to accept the consequences if it helped address the underlying problems plaguing Goa’s tourism industry. He expressed frustration over the complaint, accusing the government of using him as a “scapegoat” to avoid dealing with more pressing issues. “If you have a political necessity to find a scapegoat in me, that I conspired with some Chinese propaganda site to hurt Goan tourism, I am ready to suffer the consequences,” he wrote. However, Mukherjee stressed that simply blaming him would not solve the larger challenges facing Goa’s tourism sector.
The lawyer also took aim at the government’s failure to address the real concerns of the tourism industry, citing that even if his data was inaccurate, the viral reaction to his post stemmed from a growing sense of disillusionment among tourists. He argued that many visitors to Goa felt “cheated” and that their grievances were at the heart of the issue. “Tourists went to Goa and felt cheated. They spoke about their grievances,” Mukherjee remarked.
Mukherjee further suggested that the current state of tourism in Goa needed reform and called on the Chief Minister to focus on long-term solutions rather than attempting to silence critics on social media. “Will you reform Goan tourism and make it take the next great leap? India deserves no less, Goa deserves no less,” he wrote, expressing hope that the publicity surrounding the controversy would prompt the government to act on much-needed reforms.
On the other hand, the Goa Tourism Department has maintained that tourism in the state is on a steady recovery path, with a significant rise in foreign and domestic arrivals. According to a press release from the department, foreign tourist arrivals in 2023 exceeded 450,000, a notable increase from the pandemic’s lows. Additionally, the department highlighted that domestic tourism has rebounded strongly, with more than 8 million domestic visitors in 2023. The department also argued that comparisons between Goa and countries like Sri Lanka are misleading and do not provide an accurate perspective on the state’s tourism situation.
The ongoing debate between the lawyer and the Goa Tourism Department underscores the complex challenges facing the state’s tourism industry, which has been struggling with both perceptions of poor service and the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. As both sides continue to spar, many are left wondering whether the controversy will spark the much-needed changes for Goa’s tourism sector to thrive once again.
Sources By Agencies