Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: The Goa government’s tourism department has filed a police complaint against an entrepreneur, whose post on X about the state of tourism in Goa had prompted several other travellers to chime in with their own negative experiences from the state.
In a complaint to the Superintendent of Police of the cyber crime police station in Panaji, deputy director of tourism Rajesh Kale stated that he was “writing to formally lodge a complaint regarding an incident of public mischief that occurred on November 5, at approximately 3:52 pm”.
According to Kale, the entrepreneur “disseminated false data through his social media X handles, thereby causing significant annoyance to local businesses and inducing fear or alarm within the local community”.
The person, who has about 22,500 followers on X and describes himself as the founder of an “online legal learning platform”, did not respond to a message and an email by The Indian Express seeking a comment.
The post Kale ostensibly refers to reads: “Foreign tourists have abandoned (Goa) already. Look at 2019 v 2023 numbers. Russians and Brits who used to visit annually have opted for Sri Lanka instead. Indian tourists still visiting, but soon likely to ditch it as word spreads about exploitation of tourists while there are so many cheaper comparable locations abroad.” Alongside was a chart that suggested foreign tourists to Goa were dwindling.
In the complaint, Kale wrote, “Goa has long been recognised as a prominent tourism destination for both domestic and international visitors. The propagation of such false statements not only jeopardises the reputation of our state but also poses a serious threat to public tranquillity. The Department of Tourism is particularly concerned that these actions may be part of a hidden agenda aimed at undermining Goa’s state image.”
The complaint states that the entrepreneur “referenced China Economic Information Center (CEIC) data in his post; however, the credibility of this data is questionable as he neither consulted with the Department of Tourism prior to posting nor validated the data he collected”.
