The beach stretch from Bogmalo Beach Resort, in Vasco, to St Regis in Cavelossim is the longest in South Goa that has quietly been offering wellness, serenity, self-discovery and luxury to visitors since tourism hopped from the North to the South of Goa. In the beginning, there was a Fort Aguada Beach Resort in North Goa, and then appeared Bogmalo Beach Resort in the south. And, as the number of visitors kept increasing, the need for rooms saw the industry shift focus from the north to the south, though this occurred slowly.
“Goa has mostly been home to the middle income group of foreigners. If I am right, the fragrance was taken by the hippies, and once the smell spread all over the world, the demand grew,” recalls Francis Pereira, former primary supplier to most five-star resorts. “The standards set by high-end hotels were followed by the lesser starred hotels, with only a change in the quality of goods ordered,” recollects Pereira.
“Tourists demand a certain standard of hygiene and the concept was not new to us,” observes Pereira. From one luxury resort in South Goa, 12 more have bloomed in this 23 km stretch, which has seen restaurants mushrooming and fading, with few now able to tickle the palate with local fare. “Most chefs passing out from the institutes of hotel management in the State must be opting to work outside, or are absorbed by these resorts,” reasons hotelier, Godfrey Lawrence, as he tries to explain the lack of genuine local food offered in m.