‘Every social media influencer took Goa for a ride,’ says tourism minister, this time armed with data

“We wanted to dispel these apprehensions and give a correct picture. In terms of percentage, domestic tourist footfall has risen by 22 per cent while international tourist footfall rose by 3 per cent in 2024. The Dabolim airport reported a remarkable 27 per cent growth in passenger arrivals in December (2024) relative to figures for that month the previous year. Data shows there is a robust growth in tourism and Goa remains the most preferred tourist destination in India,” said Anchipaka.

The department said the data was compiled from several sources, including airport arrivals, Konkan Railways, Kadamba Transport Corporation Limited, transport operators, online travel platforms and aggregators. It said the figures were provisional and “conservative estimates”.

Slamming social media influencers for running a campaign to “defame” the state, Goa tourism minister Rohan Khaunte said, “Why suddenly unverified data came in the picture from some ‘China Economic Information Centre’? They say any propaganda is good propaganda. All sorts of rumours were spread about Goa tourism’s decline, about roads being empty. We did not want to respond to every social media influencer who took Goa for a ride in the last quarter. Maybe by using Goa as a hashtag, they were trying to become famous, but today’s figures will plug all this story (of decline). The issues raised… we will address, but the way the issue was taken up, we need to jointly condemn. Every tourist place has its challenges.”

He said it is “very important” that influencers who have been coming to Goa and enjoying themselves also share a reel (on Instagram) about “how Goa has been good to them.”

Khaunte said that according to the UN Tourism’s (UNWTO) report, post-COVID, foreign tourists’ footfall in Asia is still slowly recovering from pre-pandemic levels.

“The 3 per cent increase in foreign tourists’ footfall here (in Goa) is a recovery. Despite Asia being at minus 18 per cent in terms of recovery, our growth has been better than the national average… We were trying to connect to Israel, but there was a war and the (aftermath) of the war in Russia has still not given us the numbers that we were expecting. At the same time, we are connecting to newer markets, such as Poland, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan,” he said.

“We cannot be compared with the footfalls of a country like Sri Lanka or Thailand or Vietnam. Tourism is not a zero-sum game. The tourists are taking multiple vacations and Goa definitely continues to be a favourite among Indian tourists,” he said.

Acknowledging that there has been a “little over-tourism and infrastructure strain” in the coastal belt, Khaunte said, “We know there is overcrowding in North Goa at beaches like Baga and Calangute, which is leading to friction between locals and tourists. There are issues on waste management. We are working towards waste management, public transport and the cleanliness of the beaches.”

On a question about whether there is a need for a carrying capacity for the state, he said, “I think when we have spoken about promoting regenerative tourism and sustainable tourism, these are some parts that are being thought about. As the roadmap comes, we will talk about it. But in the Constitution, nowhere does it say that we can define a carrying capacity and put a plug on the number of people who would want to come to Goa. We can definitely look at how to encourage better tourists to come to Goa and weed out the rest in terms of policies that we create.”