Marianne Vardalos

Invading Goa: New Tourism or Old Imperialism? Marianne Vardalos

New tourism -- travel that claims to be more ethical or ecological than old tourism, is the industry that offers yoga retreats and herbal tea tours, henna holidays and temple walks. Goa has always been a draw for the masses eager to find spirituality and escape the pressures of modern life so it is no surprise that new tourism is thriving in the holidy capital of India. In this book, Vardalos argues that new tourist genres are all the same, regardless of their specific claims, because of the ideology that encompasses all of them: imperialism. She argues that new tourism in Goa does not offer an ethical nor ecological alternative to the mass travel of the past and is in fact, no different than invasions of historical imperial powers. Characteristics like 'individualized', 'experiential', 'ethical', and 'eco-friendly' are used by marketers to differentiate new tourism from mass tourism in an attempt to conceal its similarity to the imperial projects of the past. But its purposes and consequences are exactly the same. In that regard, new tourists, even those with the best of intentions, are invading Goa.