GOA, India (AP): The golden rays of the sun fall on the soft sandy beaches and Goa every evening, magical as always, but strangely calm and lonely. This holiday season, few visitors enjoy the sunsets held in the Indian holiday area.
The unspoken fear of the coronavirus is undermining Goa’s vibrant beach huts and noisy blood bars.
Portuguese colony until 1961, this state of western India usually comes to life in the months of December and January, its tourism-led economy is booming with foreign travelers and listed flights carrying hordes of tourists.
Over the past decade, Goa had transformed from a seasonal mecca for both hippie backpackers and wealthy tourists to a second home destination for India’s middle class. Construction was booming, and raised concerns about the impact on fragile environments. Apartments overlooking the sea, the riverfront or surrounded by forests have been in high demand.
The pandemic and the consequent travel restrictions have changed everything, possibly forever.
Along the popular beaches of northern Goa, from Candolim to Calangute and Morjim, there are many cafes, tattoo parlors and barracks with sun loungers. Nightlife in popular festivals is dead.
Seema Rajgarh, 37, is a lone figure on Utorda Beach, almost deserted in southern Goa, wearing her blue sari set against the expanse of the Arabian Sea while making jewel wedges made of pearls and stones. None of the few domestic tourists are interested in buying them.
On the good days of the holiday season, the mother of three girls, the youngest who was not yet two years old, said she used to earn 2,000 rupees ($ 27).
Now, the times are bleak.
“Some days I earn just 200 rupees ($ 2.7), not even to buy milk and food for my kids,” he said.
Rajgarh’s husband, a cook, lost his job during the national shutdown imposed in March to contain the spread of coronavirus infections. He is still unemployed.
School fees for children have long been expected. The rental is three months late.
“This virus has devastated our lives,” Rajgarh said.
In 2019, more than 8 million tourists visited Goa, including more than 930,000 foreign tourists. According to the state tourism department, about 800 charter flights arrived from Russia, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and Japan among other countries.
In August, they had only visited 1.1 million, including just over 280,000 foreign tourists.
An official report on the impact of COVID-19 in Goa published in December estimated a loss of almost $ 1 billion for the tourism industry due to the April-May blockade. Potential job losses are expected to range from 35% to 58%. More than one or three of Goa’s 1.6 million people work in tourism.
Goa has accounted for more than 51,000 of the more than 10 million reported cases of coronavirus in India, with 749 deaths. The persistent consequences of the abrupt cessation of economic activity have tempted many employers to quit smoking.
Sitting at home last summer during closing, designer Suman Bhat, the luxury label “Lola by SumanB” with her flowing draped silhouettes is popular among Bollywood celebrities, struggled to close her iconic store in Panjim, the capital of Goa, or wait for falling sales.
Bhat managed to retain his workers, but had to give up his beloved commercial space, moving to a less expensive place in August.
“It was a tough goodbye for me. You spend so much money on business to create a customer experience, and that completely fools you. There’s no way anyone can see, touch and feel your product, ”he said.
Bhat says his workers are exhausted by the new routines of sanitation, testing and concern. With the end of the pandemic not yet in sight, the future remains uncertain.
“Can my clothes be worn at night if there is no afternoon to go? Is it fair to ask people to pay that kind of money when everyone is trying to save? “he asked.
“Everyone is exhausted. You don’t know when a worker will say they have a fever. What are you doing? Turn it all off? Do you want to tell everyone to put themselves to the test, to disinfect and spray everything? You’re in troubleshooting mode all the time, ”he said.
Months after the blockade began to ease, Goa is showing signs of life. Arrivals of domestic tourists increased during the end-of-year holidays. Casinos have reopened and visitors are no longer required to show negative coronavirus test reports, unlike most other states in India.
But things hardly return to normal.
Yoga teacher Sharanya Narayanan struggles to make sense of what has been lost.
Narayanan, 34, came to Goa from Bombay in 2008 to perform aerial stunts at a club and stayed at his home.
He taught in various locations, but had to switch to virtual classes during closing. When he was allowed to reopen welfare centers in August, he returned only one of his jobs: his own private class.
“The pandemic has changed everyone’s lives, including mine,” he said.
“I miss the sense of anonymity I used to enjoy in Goa. That every time I didn’t have the same group of people to meet, I always changed and evolved, so I was able to recreate myself without feeling stuck, ”he said. “The transient nature of things is so appealing to Goa.”