Goa was liberated from Portuguese rule in 1961 and became a Union Territory of Government. It became separate state of the country in 1987. Goa has witnessed a very fast growth of tourism after its liberation. In five-year plans of Government of India, Goa received a special attention in infrastructure development and tourism promotion. In 1970s and 1980s, Goa was promoted as “Europe of East” to attract more foreign tourists and it became a prime destination for the foreign tourists. While Goa and tourism became synonymous – tourism in Goa brought along with it a host of problems, ranging from social, cultural to violation of critical environmental norms.

Post 1991, many other states like Kerala, Rajasthan and other southern states aggressively started promoting tourism. To compete with other states and upcoming destinations of South and South East Asia, Goa started marketing tourism aggressively. “Go Goa 365 days holidays”, Go Goa: Everything Included” and recently “Go Goa: A perfect holiday destination” are some of the campaigns pushed by the Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC), a commercial wing of Goa Tourism Department. It is in this backdrop that Goa tourism 10-year master plan was evolved in 2001. The focus seems to be on generating greater revenue and foreign exchange for the state and does not place comprehensive development programme for people as an important consideration or goal. Issues like environmental degradation, violation of Coastal Regulation Zones Notification, cultural decay, sex tourism, child labour, child and women trafficking, alienation of the communities from their lands have not been touched upon by the Master plan.