With footfall hit, some shacks in Goa stop operations for season

CALANGUTE/PANAJI: Beach shacks, a key barometer of the fortunes of Goa’s tourism sector, have begun to dismantle their structures along the coastline. The lack of business and negligible tourist footfall prompted several shacks at Colva, Cavelossim, Calangute, Candolim, Morjim, Benaulim and Majorda to cease operations well ahead of the May 31 deadline.
According to the Shack Owners Welfare Society (SOWS), shacks on less popular beaches began to close in the last week of March, with the remaining expected to follow suit after Easter Sunday.
“If there is no business, then what is the point of keeping the shacks open?” said SOWS president Cruz Cardozo.
The move to cease operations, even though they paid licence fees to operate until May 31, is a strong indicator of diminishing returns for shack operators.
It culminates a tumultuous tourism season marred by social media criticism, violent skirmishes between tourists and shack employees, and the murder of two individuals on Goa’s beaches.
“There are no tourists on the beach at all. You can say the season was for two-and-a-half months, from Jan to mid-March when the foreign charter tourists were there. Now they’ve stopped,” said Goan Traditional Shacks Owners Association president Manuel Cardozo. “It is the first time that shacks have stopped for business so early.”
The current beach shacks season, 2024-25, the second year of the three-year licence period, which started early, has once again been a topsy-turvy one for stakeholders. While shack operators started the season enthusiastically, the tourism department soon found that many of them had stepped beyond their allotted spots or had sublet their shacks to non-Goans.
Not all the shacks are faring badly. Shack operators who have got allotments at prime locations have asked for a 10-day extension until June 10 as they expect steady business from domestic tourists. These are shacks situated close to the main entrance of major beaches and plan to remain open until the end of the season and, if permitted, beyond.
“Some shack operators at Benaulim, Colva, Calangute - Sauntavaddo and Baga have sought an extension beyond May 31, but we have to also see the weather,” said Cruz.