Goa noticed a rise of greater than 10% in vacationer arrivals within the first three months of 2025 in comparison with the primary quarter of final yr, based on the estimates by the state tourism division.
A tourism division assertion on Monday mentioned Goa witnessed 10.5% year-on-year progress in vacationer arrivals for January to March 2025, registering a footfall of 28.51 lakh guests, in comparison with 25.8 lakh guests from January to March 2024.
Tourism division officers attributed the rise in vacationer footfall to a number of methods, together with “strengthening promotion in core and rising markets, increasing worldwide air connectivity and diversifying tourism choices”.
An official mentioned strategic aviation partnerships have helped. “Air India Specific, which already had direct connectivity to Dubai, now connects Goa on to Kuwait and Abu Dhabi. This was supported by sustained engagements with Gulf carriers and efforts to faucet into transit markets in Center Jap aviation hubs,” the official mentioned.
Officers mentioned the state has entered new markets by means of focused campaigns and presence at journey and tourism occasions, together with World Journey Market (WTM) in London, ITB Asia in Singapore, the Tashkent Worldwide Tourism Truthful, and the current Arabian Journey Market 2025 in Dubai. “The initiative aligns with Goa’s technique to focus on high-value travellers and cultural ambassadors globally,” the division mentioned.
It mentioned that below the “Goa past seashores” initiative, the state continues to reposition itself as providing various experiences to vacationers, together with the Ekadasha Teertha religious circuit, wellness retreats, hinterland adventures and regenerative village experiences.
Cultural occasions reminiscent of Deep Parv, the Raponkaracho seafood competition, Chikhal Kalo, Sao Joao competition, Festavista, Spirit of Goa Pageant and Heritage Pageant have additional strengthened native engagement whereas attracting experiential tourism past the shoreline.
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“These attraction particularly to aware travellers, international nomads and low season home vacationers with monsoon journey packages gaining traction in Center Jap markets,” the division mentioned.
Whereas April sometimes sees a dip in vacationer footfall post-Easter, Could historically performs higher resulting from college holidays and home leisure journey, officers mentioned.
“Nonetheless, present regional uncertainties have forged some unpredictability over ahead demand. In response, the division has convened conferences with representatives from hospitality, transport, journey providers and alternate lodging to assessment Could-July reserving patterns and collaboratively determine steps to mitigate any potential slowdown. With initiatives such because the Homestay Coverage, help for women-led tourism enterprises and enhanced inclusion of village-based tourism within the customer financial system, Goa is guaranteeing that tourism advantages are broadly distributed,” the division mentioned.
In January, the Goa Tourism Board proposed a number of measures to bolster the state’s tourism sector, together with establishing a single-window clearance system for weddings, bringing a coverage to advertise Goa as a “vacation spot marriage ceremony” hub, regulation of taxi fares at airports and railway stations, and international campaigns to counter misinformation and selling cultural tourism.
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In keeping with information compiled by the state authorities, a complete of 1.04 crore vacationers visited Goa in 2024, larger than in 2023, when 86.28 lakh vacationers visited the state. A document 99.41 lakh home vacationers visited Goa in 2024 in comparison with 81.75 lakh vacationers in 2023, whereas the variety of overseas vacationers rose from 4.52 lakh in 2023 to 4.67 lakh in 2024.
In November final yr, the state confronted flak after some viral posts on social media claimed that tourism within the state is “down within the dumps”. The posts had triggered a barrage of criticism of the state’s tourism infrastructure, with many claiming that travellers have been more and more ditching Goa for Thailand, Vietnam or Sri Lanka, which have eased visa norms. In response, the federal government had insisted that “tourism isn’t a zero-sum sport” and blamed social media influencers for working a marketing campaign to defame the state.