This report is of an introductory study by a team of activist – academics based in Goa which was done in July-October 1993, as a prelude to a larger project conceived to examine the difference between tourism movements and people’s agenda in Goa. It was assumed that that village level committees that have sprung up in Goa, opposing tourism projects or parts thereof, would more adequately represent the people’s concerns, as compared to tourism activist organisations which represent the entire state or region. Hence, a cross-case study to understand the differences and similarities between one activist organisation and one village level committee was conceived. With the arrival of data a number of assumptions did not hold: 1. There was an important change in the tourism movement within Goa, as activist organisations were aligning with village committees to oppose the introduction of golf courses into Goa. 2. Village committees were not necessarily transparent representatives of the ‘people’. The assumption that village committees are closer to the ‘people’ was suspect. The different sections of this introductory study provides: brief outline of tourism development and the distribution of village level committees in Goa, a cross-case analysis of village committees, possibilities of understanding tourism issues in terms of ‘identity’, ‘invention of tradition’ and ‘tourism movements’ in Goa and the methodological questions and future types of work to be explored. Publisher: Equitable Tourism Options (EQUATIONS) Contact: [email protected], +91.80.25457607 Visit: www.equitabletourism.org, http://www.equitabletourism.org/stage/readfull.php?AID=766