Abstract: Tourism is an important activity that has been present across the world for ages. Notwithstanding its numerous merits and benefits, tourism has its weaknesses and shortcomings too. This paper attempts to provide a balance sheet of the economic and socio-cultural impacts of tourism on Goa, a state in India known for its relatively tourism-centric economy. Based on the same and on experiences drawn from other tourism dependent regions across the country and the world, the paper draws a list of options for Goa for the future – options that would minimize the problems created by unplanned tourism while at the same time extracting the maximum that planned and responsible tourism can offer.