| 3.6 Beach Tourism
Beaches are one of the most important destinations for the affluent tourists from the Northern hemisphere. India has a coastline of 6000 kms but beach tourism is not well developed, Goa being the only international beach destination in the country. One factor, which affects the competitiveness of beach tourism in India, is the stringent coastal regulations zone requirements (CRZ), under which a hotel cannot be built within 200 metres of the coast. Such a restriction does not exist in any successful beach destination in the world. In 1992 the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) had issued orders for relaxation of the requirement so as to enable hotels to be built between 200 and 100 metres of the beach. The Hon’ble Supreme Court also issued a direction asking the Government to identify the stretches on the coastline on which beaches could be developed and report back to them. Although 15 years have elapsed this work has not been completed, as the MOEF has got involved in the task of comprehensive revision of the CRZ Regulations.
To improve India’s competitiveness in beach tourism the Group recommends that a decision be taken quickly on hotel construction on beaches according to the prevailing practice in other countries. The sensitive areas could be clearly defined and one or two long stretches of the coastline, particularly on the west coast, could be opened up for development of tourism.
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