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Goa braces for ‘unprecedented’ numbers in 1st tourism season after Covid

Goa’s tourism sector is a big source of revenue for the state. the tourism industry in goa directly contributes 16.43% towards the state’s gross domestic product (gdp) and also provides employment to nearly 35% of the state’s population that is dependent on the sector.

As the tourism season peaks in Goa, the government, under mounting pressure, is gearing up to welcome tourists from all around the world.

Goa this year is expecting unprecedented tourist numbers in the first season that opens fully after the Covid pandemic. As per official estimates, prior to the pandemic, the state witnessed close to 90 lakh tourists, including around 9 lakh foreigners.

Although tourism is one of the primary sources of income for the state, the authorities this time are planning to impose restrictions, including substantial fines to keep the crowd in control.

The authorities are also planning on strengthening the penal provisions of the law in the popular destinations and beaches where crowds throng the area creating mess, including littering, drinking on the beach and abandoning the bottles there, and cooking along the streets, among others, officials said.

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“We believe in responsible and sustainable tourism. But there are certain new practices. People come to the beaches, break beer bottles, and leave empty beer bottles. The law was not clear on this so far, so we have issued a notification specifying the banned ‘nuisance activities’ because it is important that they are stopped immediately and we have placed substantial fines,” Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte said.

Moreover, the local residents, mainly from the capital city of Panaji have complained to the authorities about tourists spoiling the roads, and footpaths in the city including traffic jams and chaos all around.

“Panjimites are angry, frustrated and under a lot of stress, due to different factors like parking, traffic jams, photo shoots by tourists in our residential areas, broken footpaths, potholed roads etc. Our city is not at all healthy. It’s getting sicker and sicker by the day, and yet the government is planning more projects on existing recreational spaces,” Patricia Pinto a former councillor of the Corporation of the City of Panaji said.

Alleging that the government’s entire focus is on gambling, fun and entertainment for revenue generation, Arminio Ribeiro, an architect and town planner, and member of the conservation committee of the Corporation of the City of Panaji raised questions on the future projects planned for the city which eventually will come at the cost of the locals.

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“Panaji as a unique cultural and heritage city is ignored. Instead, the entire focus is on gambling, fun and entertainment. As citizens of the city, we are concerned with the chaos from unregulated traffic, loss of our public waterfront spaces, and the image of our city from a heritage city to a casino city,” Ribeiro said.

Locals have also challenged and are up in arms against the Goa Tourism Department’s proposal of converting the children’s park in Panjim into a ‘waste to art park’ saying that tourism promotion will come at the cost of local welfare.

Recreational spaces on the waterfront have already made way for casino lounges, Pinto said.

“...And if the proposed ‘waste to water park’ will be formed, this will mean the best garden in Panjim maintained by the forest department would have a manned ticket entry, would be closed to our children, taking away their play space, and a recreational space where we could relax, rejuvenate, and socialise would be lost to us forever. Nobody has the right to snatch them away from us,” added Pinto.

“Tourists are free to share our space, we welcome them. But developing it for them and locking us out is a definite no,” she said.

The plan was finally withdrawn and will instead be set up elsewhere after opposition, but the capital city is feeling the pressure.

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The tourism industry, however, said the numbers were a ‘good sign’. “Last year after the pandemic subsided, we had what was called revenge tourism. This year we will be receiving foreign tourists as well, which will help diversify our clientele. We need a diverse set of tourists in order that all categories of stakeholders are satisfied. A lot of small hotels and guesthouses depend on domestic tourists,” the president of the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa said.

“At the same time, we want to promote Goa as a safe and favourable experience for all including those looking for family tourism. It will help if we can keep the beaches clean, and offer different adventure experiences so we can attract the right kind of tourists,” he added.

“If I speak about limitations it will sound like an excuse. We will use our resources to take stringent action,” Police Inspector Dattaguru Sawant of the Calangute Police station said.

But law enforcement agencies admit that resources are stretched.

“In the long run, we have to promote Goa as a quality tourism destination and quality tourists to come into the state which will help us in employment and help the industry in terms of economics. We are equally accountable to our people,” the tourism minister said when asked will the state be able to handle the numbers with Goa set to get a second airport over the coming months bringing more tourists and forming a greater number of destinations.

Goa’s tourism sector is a big source of revenue for the state. The tourism industry in Goa directly contributes 16.43% towards the state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and also provides employment to nearly 35% of the state’s population that is dependent on the sector, according to official estimates.

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Airbnb’s economic impact on Goa: A pillar for sustainable tourism in 2022

Oxford Economics research underscores Airbnb’s substantial contribution to Goa’s GDP and job market, while highlighting the platform’s role in amplifying local spending and fostering responsible tourism.

New research from Oxford Economics found Airbnb is an important pillar of Goa ’s tourism industry, contributing over USD$108 million (INR 8.5 billion) to Gross Domestic Product and supporting over 11,500 local jobs in 2022* alone.

The report also highlighted the powerful multiplier effect Airbnb guest spending has within local communities. In India, Goa had the largest share of Airbnb guest spending, amounting to a total of USD$189 million (INR 14.8 billion) in 2022*, in areas like purchases on transportation, restaurants, retail stores, and retail stores.

Amanpreet Bajaj , General Manager, Airbnb India, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan said: “ Goa is a highly sought-after tourism destination, and is one of the most popular destinations in India. We recognize the immense value of fostering tourism that is not just high quality but also sustainable and supports our Goan community. This report reaffirms the profound positive impact Airbnb guests leave on the local families, businesses and communities. As the backbone of Goa’s economy, the tourism industry not only offers micro-entrepreneurship opportunities but also employs locals in various tourism related activities.

Moving forward, we are eager to deepen our collaboration with the Goa Tourism Department. Together, we aim to promote tourism that is both of the highest quality as well as fosters responsible travel practices, thereby enhancing the travellers’ experience while simultaneously nurturing the local communities across the state.

Cheryl Gonsalves , a Superhost from Goa, has been hosting on Airbnb for over 2 years. Talking about her journey, Cheryl said, “ I embarked on my hosting adventure in Goa, initially knowing very little about the intricacies of running a hospitality business. Airbnb proved to be the perfect platform for me to take my first steps, and since then, I’ve expanded to 8 listings in the city. Along the way, I’ve had the privilege of welcoming guests from all corners of the world, and I’ve been able to employ more local staff to ensure that my guests continue to enjoy the authentic local experience. Over the years, Airbnb has not only enabled me but has also empowered many hosts in Goa to achieve financial independence and has played an important role in promoting hospitality micro-entrepreneurship in the state.”

The report also found out that Airbnb in 2022* contributed over USD$920 million (INR 72 billion) to India’s Gross Domestic Product and supported over 85,000 jobs. In 2022*, Airbnb guests spent a total of USD$815 million (INR 64 billion) in India, more than double of the 2019 levels.

* This report presents results for the twelve month period up to and including March 2023, referred to as 2022*, which represents the first full year after the reopening of international travel. Prevailing exchange rates at the time of study were applied, using proprietary data from Oxford Economics.

George Diamantopoulos

George is the News Feed Manager, Content Creator, and Social Media Manager at the TravelDailyNews network of online newspapers. At the same time, he is completing his studies in the Department of Business Administration at the Athens University of Economics and Business.

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Domestic tourism surges in Goa; focus shifts to recovery in overseas arrivals

• Goa is looking at new international markets and promoting cruise tourism, an untapped sector promising substantial revenue

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New Delhi: Goa’s tourism industry is witnessing a robust recovery, driven by a surge in domestic travellers. In an interview, Rohan Khaunte, state tourism and IT minister, said Goa has welcomed 10 million visitors since March, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. The projected number of visitors for 2023 is expected to be 30% higher than the 8.1 million tourist arrivals in 2019.

The state heavily relied on a significant influx of international travellers, primarily by using charters, but is yet to make a full recovery. In 2019, Goa received a million international visitors, mainly from the UK and Russia but the Russia-Ukraine war and India’s issues with UK significantly impacted overseas tourist arrivals till 2023. Consequently, the state has had to shift its focus to explore alternative international markets and explore new models, such as promoting cruise tourism.

“Cruise tourism was never there on the tourist map earlier. Every ship that comes in brings 3,000 individuals most of whom are big spenders. We are expecting 42 ships to come in this year. In the long run, it will give more fully independent travellers or FITs and that will help the state get additional tourism revenue."

Goa has also placed a proposal to the Centre for “digital nomad" visas for foreign tourists arrivals in India for a short period of time. Digital nomads are tech-freelancers who don’t necessarily work from a particular place. The state is hoping the Centre will speed up work on this visa programme soon.

“Nearly 50 countries have realised the potential of digital nomads and in their ability to spend and live in their country for short durations. We must ensure that Goa along with the Centre work on policies like this. Goa can be an ideal model for the country to showcase. It can contribute so much to the local tourism economy for Goa and we are determined to make tech tourism a reality soon. But the Centre is yet to sort out a clear policy on how to give out digital nomad visas," he said.

Goa‘s population is about 1.5 million. Tourism contributes 16.43% to Goa’s economy and about 35% jobs. “With both Dabolim and Manohar International Airport airports in operation, we have to work on improving room capacity."

“Most organised hotels are running at 80%-plus capacity. Goa has about 6,000 hotels with 85,000 rooms at present," said Khaunte.

The state is also looking at ensuring that online tour operators like Makemytrip and others only take listings of hotels and properties that are already registered with the tourism department. “We were getting a lot of complaints that after booking properties on OTA platforms, when people arrived in Goa, they found that these properties didn’t exist. Last year when we first began registering them, the number was just 3000 properties registered. This number has doubled in 1.5 years. This year, the number will go up to 10,000 or more. We need to capture the data of the revenues they earn as well,’ he said.

According to the official Ministry of Tourism statistics for the year 2022, the number of domestic tourist visits to all states and union territories in the country were 1731.01 million, up 155% over 2021, but still lower than 2019 when Indians did 2321.98 million visits.

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