SUSTAINABLE COASTAL TOURISM IN GOA: DESTINATION PROBLEMS AND MANAGEMENT OPTIONS.

Abstract

Coastal  tourism is the mainstay of Goa’s economy. The economic importance of Goa’s coastal tourism is unquestionable.But the main challenge of Goa’s coastal tourism is the conflict between the economic benefits tourism generates and its negative impact on the coastal environment. The present article analyses the economic, environment and socio -cultural impact of tourism on coastal sustainability of North Goa’s famous beaches on stakeholders. The study suggests steps to reduce the negative impact of tourism activities and develop sustainable coastal tourism thereby addressing the research gap on coastal tourism sustainability.Using a convenience sample of 150 coastal stakeholders and applying a 5-point Likert scale, mean and standard deviation, standard error, the paper  finds that  locals who gained economic benefits perceive coastal tourism to be sustainable and those who haven’t, perceive it to be unsustainable.But all the  local stakeholders agreed that tourism has adversely affected the coastal environment as well as the socio-cultural sustainability. And, in the aftermath of the COVID 19 pandemic, the economic sustainability is also under threat. For sustainable coastal tourism, environmental laws need to be stringently implemented and all stakeholders  need to be proactive and sensitive towards their coastal areas.