Goa govt seeks ‘visa on arrival’ to attract foreign tourists, to write to Centre

The state government’s proposal pushing for a liberalisation of visa norms comes in the aftermath of the state facing flak over the past few months after some viral posts on social media claimed that tourism is “down in the dumps”. The posts had triggered a barrage of criticism of the state’s tourism infrastructure, with many claiming that travellers are now increasingly ditching Goa for Thailand, Vietnam or Sri Lanka, which have eased visa norms.

A government official, requesting anonymity, said the proposal will be sent to the Union government in a few days.

“Over the past year, we have been requesting the Centre to consider allowing visa-on-arrival facilities. We have also asked for more flights and air connectivity. Many foreign tourists who visit Goa are unable to work in the state since they are on a tourist visa. So, we have suggested that a policy for such ‘digital nomads’ be formulated. This will help in increasing footfall of international tourists,” this official said.

Santosh Sangam Divkar, president of Small and Medium Hoteliers Association, said that in a recent meeting with the state tourism department, stakeholders from the industry had urged the government to push for faster processing of e-visas for foreign tourists.

Rising competition

“Many Southeast Asian countries are now offering visa-on-arrival. If we have to compete, we have to ensure that foreign tourists are able to apply for visas online. The visas should be processed in a shorter time duration and the process should not be cumbersome. This is one of the reasons for a decline in tourist footfall from abroad,” Divkar said.

The Goa government has insisted that “tourism is not a zero-sum game” and blamed social media influencers for running a campaign to defame the state in the past few weeks. According to data compiled by the state government, a total of 1.04 crore tourists visited Goa in 2024, higher than the 86.28 lakh tourists in 2023. A record 99.41 lakh domestic tourists visited Goa in 2024 compared to 81.75 lakh tourists in 2023, while the number of foreign tourists rose from 4.52 lakh in 2023 to 4.67 lakh in 2024.

According to data from the Ministry of Tourism, 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.