Goa, a popular destination amongst both international and domestic travelers, has witnessed a modest growth in 2018. The destination welcomed 8.01 million tourists (0.93 mn overseas) in 2018 as compared to 7.78 million tourists (0.89 mn overseas) in 2017. The destination is eyeing to receive one million overseas tourists this year. Goa recently organized the third edition of Goa International Travel Mart in order to further develop the tourism sector of the state. During the three days of the show, the stakeholders of the tourism industry in Goa discussed the future roadmap of the sector, infrastructure and various new avenues to be established in the coming years.
Speaking about the plans to develop the tourism in Goa, Pramod Sawant, Chief Minister, Government of Goa said, “As a state, we are extremely focused to develop our tourism segment as it is a major part of our GDP. With social harmony and cultural diversity, Goa has a lot of experiences to offer for travelers from across the globe. In 2022, we are coming up with a new airport in Mopa which will further boost connectivity to the state. We are also very well connected by road and rail to all the major cities of India. When it comes to cruise tourism, we welcomed around 45,000 cruise travelers in 2018. One of the key challenges earlier was the local transportation, now we have solved this issue by using technology and launching the Goa Miles app. We are coming up with a new convention centre in Dona Paula. The convention centre will have a capacity of around 5,000 pax and the work has already begun.”
The state is now also focusing to improve its safety and security by sensitizing the authorities. Also, Goa is organizing cleanliness drives to clean the popular beaches and also the heritage structures. “Our Government’s main priority is safety, security and happiness. We have already tightened the safety and security in the state and want to further boost the guest satisfaction. We have also sensitized the police force and have tourist police across the state; we have also deployed adequate lifeguards for the protection of travelers. To further maintain the cleanliness, we are doing scientific beach cleaning and are also striving to preserve our heritage,” the Chief Minister informed.
While these are very positive steps, the recent closure of the Thomas Cook UK has majorly impacted the tourism industry in Goa. Over the years, Goa was thronged by foreign tourist and Thomas Cook UK was one of the companies with scheduled charters used to get a lot of traffic to the coastal state. Now, the state is looking at other alternatives.
Speaking about the emerging scenario, Savio Mesias, President, Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) said, “For the Indian travel and tourism industry, the last five years was not very exciting, but not bad as well. Government has addressed a lot of challenges and bottlenecks including GST, Visa fees, e-visa, which is good for the industry. In Goa, we have been impacted by the closure of Thomas Cook UK, as UK was one of our major markets. With the help of the Government, we have ensured that now TUI Charter aircrafts will get permission for landing. With 24 aircrafts flying 7200 travellers, TUI will fill the void of Thomas Cook for us. We have focused on promoting our culture and heritage which has a very limited appeal. We need to create and develop more products to attract more travelers to the state.”
To further enhance its bouquet of offerings, Goa is now looking to aggressively tap Health and Wellness segment. The state has already started promoting Goa beyond its beaches.
J Ashok Kumar, Secretary-Tourism, Government of Goa said, “In terms of offerings we have a lot beyond mere sun, sand and beaches in Goa. In the last few years, we have diversified our products. We have been recently awarded as the best state for adventure tourism by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. We are now very keen to promote our hinterlands, health and wellness, and culture and heritage tourism.”
