Goa, being trashed by travellers online, has a response: ‘Don’t compare an Indian state to country like Sri Lanka’

“It is important to note that Goa is a state within India, whereas destinations Goa is being compared to… like Sri Lanka are countries. Comparing a state to a country may yield an inaccurate perspective,” it said.

Acknowledging that Goa does face challenges of “limited scheduled international air connectivity”, the department said the government is working closely with the Centre to relook at point of call and additional seat entitlement for Goa to establish “more robust international connections”.

“Goa, like any other tourist destination, is governed by market forces and at times the air and hotel components make Goa expensive, leaving the potential tourist seeking alternate options. However, Goa has and will always continue to rise to challenge to solidify its position as a top holiday destination for a diverse range of travellers… Top international chains have found a home in Goa, many of which have new hotels in the pipeline, and many more are seeking to establish a presence in Goa,” the department said.

The tourism department’s rebuttal comes after several posts on X claimed that tourism in Goa was “down in the dumps”, with many tourists opting to visit Sri Lanka, Thailand or Vietnam instead. People blamed this on lack of adequate public transport, “a local taxi mafia”, and overpriced hotel accommodations.

The Tourism department said Goa experienced a “robust resurgence” in domestic tourism, with over 8 million (80 lakh) domestic visitors in 2023, which it said surpasses pre-pandemic figures, while 4.5 lakh foreign tourists visited Goa last year.

The department said it was ensuring that tourism benefits both the environment and local communities, “thus changing our mindset away from the number game and focusing on quality over quantity”.

According to data shared by the Ministry of Tourism last year, in 2020, when the pandemic hit, 3.03 lakh foreign tourists visited Goa. In 2021, during the second Covid wave, only 22,000 foreign tourists visited, while in 2022, the number rose to 1.75 lakh. The numbers are still far off from the pre-pandemic years when over 9.34 lakh foreign tourists visited Goa in 2018, followed by a marginal increase to 9.37 lakh in 2019.

Over 70 lakh domestic tourists visited Goa in 2022, only marginally lower than in 2018, when 70.8 lakh tourists from across the country visited the state.