Have you been to Kovalam?

HELP

Have you been to Kovalam or are you going?

MA student reseaching needs your help. Having just completed a BA in Tourism, my dissertation was labelled

socio-cultural impacts of tourism;a hosts perspective;kovalam beach a case study

I am now looking at a tourist perspective and am getting together a list of interview questions. Would only be about 10 questions.

Would you be willing to help? I would be very grateful, please reply leaving ur e mail address or e mail me at morena451@yahoo.co.uk

Cheers

If anyone wants any information about kovalam let me know or if anyone has any gossip / information. let me know. I can give you contacts, hotel, best food etc

"Sunglasses"

Haven't been back to Kovalam since '99. Is "Sunglasses" still alive and well?

I've been told he was still alive and well and cheering everyone up last winter.

How long has he been a part of the Kovalam scene?

Think he's been around forever, met his son in january -he's a rickshaw driver and said his father had been doing it for as long as he remembers.

I found a great photo of 'sunglasses' on the net.

For anyone who doesn't know of 'sunglasses' - he is a sunglasses (and coconut oil) seller who walks up and down the beaches of Kovalam saying "sunglasses, sunglasses", he is always polite and always smiling.

He will help you with any local info and sit down and chat with you, I never bought anything from him until my last day there (I was there for 10 days) yet he was still smiling and helpfull.

When you hear him coming you smile and are happy to see him, are there any other touts who are as friendly when you are not giving them buisness?

Click here then scroll down to see the photo.

Thanks to Snowy - only the second person to volunteer help! Come on all you hardened travellers - somebody must have been to Kovalam!!

Sunglasses is also to be found on page 76 of the Manos holiday brochure.

Last time I was in India, all the young travellers were heading to Kovallum so I went in some other direction.

exactly!! Thats the point, they have destroyed it and I want to find out what socio-cultural impacts they actually percieve to be against what there is in reality.

Rather harsh words there morena451!

You've obviously done an in depth study of the impact of tourism on Kovalam but I think when things go wrong everyone is to blame. The constructive approach is for the providers to work together with the consumers to limit the bad effects of tourism.

I was appalled a few years ago when I visited Goa to see the amount of rubbish being dumped by hotels behind some beaches.
I don't think tourists can be blamed for this.

I would be very much interested in reading your research if it's for public consumption. Sorry, I can't help you with your questionaire on Kovalam as I've never been there.

I was hoping the harshness would evoke some kind of reply, which it did !

I realise that and was just hoping for some kind of reaction

Well, let's hope a few more people react and we might get a sensible discussion going on this!

I'd love to join the discussion but I was on the same train as wonderwoman, your average "hardened traveller" does'nt go to Kovalam, broaden the scope for discussion a bit!!

I can give you a quote from an Indian though when asked what he thought of mass tourism and how it had "destroyed!!" Mahabalipuram!!
"I do not care what changes have happened in my village because tonight my family will eat!!"

Or the quote I always remember from a native somewhere in Indonesia.
"why should I keep my beach like a third world village simply so first world tourists have somewhere nice to go on holiday?"

My point, is it a fair comment to say beaches are destroyed simply because the locals decide to put it to use in making a life for themselves?? Most of the rubbish is generated by tourists (Indians dont drink bottled water as a rule) this is compounded by the usual corruption of local councils who see tourist money simply as way to line their own pockets!!
For example a friend of mine lobbied the the Canacona municipal council for three years, for what? a swimming pool, a carpark, toilet facilities, rubbish collection for all??? Nope simply for three women to clean the beach!! their wages a paltry 40Rps a day!!
Him and some other shack owners even offered to foot the bill themselves! But the council would'nt have that either as it would show them in a bad light!!
So what happens to the huge amount of cash paid to the council every year from palolem business men???
I think here lies the root of the problem, none of the money is ever plowed back into the infrastuture, so rubbish is not collected and facilities are not provided for. In many of India's tourist hotspots the story is the same!! If tourism was to stop tomorrow the villages would quickly return to a meagre living with no tangible change for the good!!

So just find your own beach keep it tidy and don't tell anybody where it is!!!

I can't give you an up to date feel for Kovalam as I was there for about a week in 1999. I have never been to Goa so can't relate it to there but it did feel very different from the other places I had been to on my trip.Geared for package tourists flying into Trivandrum (?)

It did however have a human scale so that as other posts have reminded each other with affection of 'Sunglasses, Coconut Oil !!' etc and of knowing which 'Pineapple. Papya, Mango 'fruit seller to buy from made the stay enjoyable.As for other travellers/tourists I never saw or heard any problems. It may be different now but so are plenty of other places.

OK
So I'm not having much luck with Kovalam - Trouble is that is where my research is, however just to open up the field somewhat lets pose this statement and see what we get back


The Socio-Cultural Impacts of Tourism:A Tourist's Perspective - using India as a case study


Whether you think here are none, many or only particular ones = I don't care - I just want to hear peoples perspective going on what they have seen etc.