Omicron variant threatens to jeopardize another season in India's tourist-dependent Goa

The waves lap gently onto one of Goa's most popular tourist beaches. But this is no regular tourist season for the small coastal Indian state, which depends on tourism for more than 16 per cent of its gross domestic product. 

A group of waiters working at a string of beach-shack restaurants sit clustered together on a few lounge chairs; the rest of the seats are empty around them, with no customers in sight. Nearby, a man leans lazily on a small sailing catamaran and shades his eyes from the sun, waiting for a tourist to book a ride.

Anita Pawar weaves in and out of the smattering of occupied lounge chairs, clutching her stash of multicoloured knit bags and ankle bracelets, trying desperately to make a sale with the few tourists in sight. 

"I'm here trying to make my business but it's still not working," she said ruefully. 

The 31-year-old mother of three has been working this beach since she was eight, first hawking peanuts and then switching to woven bags made by her mother. She said she's never seen it this quiet. 

"No tourists," Pawar said, shaking her head. "Two years before, [there were] lots of tourists here, a lot of people, good business. Now, two years after, nothing. Empty beach." 

This was supposed to be the year that international travel picked up after being shuttered by the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing with it a once-again viable tourist season for Goa, which is heavily dependent on tourist dollars, particularly from abroad.

But the Omicron variant has changed everything, once again forcing the cancellation of international charter flights, booked to resume in December — a month into the traditional start of Goa's high season, which runs from the end of October until March, but is particularly well known for its Christmas and New Year's celebrations.

"I can't see any white peoples, I'm missing them," Pawar said with a laugh. "They were good [for] business." 

When India's COVID lockdown came down in March 2020 and Goa's beaches were off limits, Pawar was forced to return to her home state of Karnataka, working in the fields for the first time in her life and earning a meagre 150 rupees ($2.50 Cdn) a day. Now she's back in Goa, but the majority of tourists have not returned with her. 

"I'm praying for them to come," she said, admitting that the uncertainty over whether there will be further restrictions because of the new variant weighs on her. "I don't know what's happening. It's really difficult for my family." 

It's been a harsh two years for much of Goa's population, 35 per cent of which depends directly on the tourism sector for employment. At the height of the pandemic, the income the state typically sees from tourism was down 70 per cent.

"We have been badly hit," said Menino D'Souza, director of tourism for Goa's state government. 

Figures gathered by his department show a more than 80 per cent decline in international tourists visiting Goa during the pandemic, with some 937,000 foreigners arriving in 2019 compared to just 17,431 from January to September of this year.