Domestic tourists pilot Goa’s tourism, foreigners getting off

Praveena Sharma

UP, UP AND AWAY

Tourist inflow into Goa has taken off. And how! After plunging 63 per cent to 29 lakh in 2020, not only has it scaled up to pre-Covid levels but was up 10 per cent to 86 lakh in 2023 from 78 lakh in 2017.

Goa | Tourist pouring into Goa| Surge in tourism | Photo: Viresh Parsekar

NEW KIND OF GROWTH

This time, the tourist surge is different. It is being mainly fuelled by domestic tourists, whose share in the total visitor inflow in the coastal State has risen to 99% at 82 lakh in 2023 from around 90% at 69 lakh in 2017.

Goa | A different kind of tourist | Domestic travellers take to Goan beaches | Photo: Rohan Fernandes

THE FOREIGN FACT

During the same period, the share of foreign tourists in the overall tourist traffic to Goa slipped to less than one per cent in 2023 from around 11 per cent in 2017.

Goa |Foreign tourists | Drop in numbers | Keep away | Photo: Rohan Fernandes

FINDIN' SAPPHIRE SEA

As foreigners stayed off the Goan shores, domestic travellers took to its azure sea as their number grew 18.56 per cent to 82 lakh in 2023 from 69 lakh in 2017.

Goa |Indian tourists numbers soar | Azure sea | Photo: Rohan Fernandes

FLOW TO TRICKLE

On the other hand, foreign tourist flow turned into a trickle, slumping 49 per cent to 4.5 lakh in 2023 from 8.9 lakh in 2017.

Goa |Overseas tourists | Trickle in | Figures low | Photo: Rohan Fernandes

CHARTING NEW LOWS

The number of charter flights flying into Goa, carrying overseas tourists, dropped 65 per cent to 356 in 2023 from 1024 in 2017. The number of passengers on them fell 70 per cent to 73,000 in 2023 from 2.5 lakh in 2017.

Goa | Charter flights | Numbers down | Charter passengers | | Photo: Pixabay

DOWNWARD SPIRAL

During the same time, foreign tourists arriving by international flights at the Dabolim and the Mopa airports also tumbled 42 per cent to 2 lakh in 2023 from 3.4 lakh in 2017.

Goa | Foreign travellers | International flights | Lower number flying in | Photo: Rohan Fernandes

CHECKING INTO HOTELS

As on March 31, 2024, total number of hotel beds in Goa were over 1 lakh with largest concentration of 52,703 beds in Category C hotels. Total hotel rooms were 69,369 and the number of hotels 7,483.

Goa | More hotels | Higher in Category C | Beds | Rooms | Photo: Rohan Fernandes

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