Goa tourism seems to have started the year on a sunny note. The annual research report of Expedia’s 2025 Air Hacks has put the coastal State as the most trending international destination for the current year with a growth of over 155 percent in its flight bookings.
This would mean the tiny State’s trend of flight bookings by international travellers for 2025 is the best among all the destinations around the world.
The southwestern Indian State is followed by Romania’s Bucharest (over 150 percent), Mexico’s Tijuana (over 85 percent), Italy’s Perugia (over 70 percent) and China’s Chengdu (over 65 percent).
Jack Sukhija, President of Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG), attributed Goa’s robust trend in the international flight bookings to its sturdy “tourism brand” and popularity among foreign tourists visiting India.
“Whatever people may say (about Goa), it is a strong and popular tourism brand among foreign tourists, who want to come and feel Goa,” the tourism lobby body chief told GT Digital.
Whatever people may say (about Goa), it is a strong and popular tourism brand among foreign tourists, who want to come and feel Goa
Jack Sukhija, President of Travel and Tourism Association of Goa
At the same time, he pointed out there could also be a “base effect” in play, which could have put Goa at the top on the world’s most trending destination list.
Base effect is when the reference point is different for two data points and therefore offers a skewed comparison between two results. In this instance, it could mean that Goa’s base flight booking number could have been lower compared to other destinations and therefore even a small jump in its number could show a higher growth trend.
Linking it to the pattern of room bookings at his hotel, Sukhija said the first two months of the year – January and February – were usually marked with high overseas tourist traffic into Goa. “My hotel (WelcomHeritage Inn in Panjim) usually gets 65-75 percent of our bookings in January and February,” he said.
Last year (2024), the number of foreign tourists arriving into the State was 4.76 lakh compared with 4.52 lakh in 2023.
Linking it to the pattern of room bookings at his hotel, Sukhija said the first two months of the year – January and February – were usually marked with high overseas tourist traffic into Goa.
Despite Goa being the tiniest State, it is one tourist destination in India that attracts a high number of foreign tourists. So much so that it has two international airports – Dabolim Airport and Manohar International Airport (also known as Mopa Airport) – notwithstanding its small geographical area.
The State is also well-connected by air to international and domestic cities. As per FlightConnections, 28 global airports have direct flights to just Dabolim Airport, connecting them to 27 cities in four countries.
The longest non-stop flight to this airport is from Moscow Vnukovo (VKO), covering a distance of 3382 km in eight hours. Some of the major international airlines operating from the airport were Gulf Air, FlyArystan, Azur Air, Air-India Express and others.
For February, the airport has 1,791 flights at the rate of 60 flights per day or 3 flights per hour. On an average day, at least one flight arrives every 20 minutes.
Expedia’s 2025 Air Hacks also revealed some other interesting booking trends that could serve as tips for air travellers when buying airline tickets. People, who bought tickets on Sunday, saw the biggest savings, especially compared to Monday and Friday – worst days to book tickets.
Booking on Sunday resulted in savings of 17 percent for international travel and 6 percent for domestic travel.
Contrary to the findings of last year, which saw best overseas fares if one booked three months prior to the travel date, now the best date for gainful booking was 18 to 29 days before the dates of travel.
The study also found that airline ticket prices peaked in February and March and hit the lows in August.
