TEAM HERALD
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PANJIM: Goa has registered nearly 4.4 per cent growth in tourist arrivals during 2012, Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar told the State Legislative Assembly on Wednesday.
The tourism scene was encouraging and has witnessed growth in arrivals, which was stagnant over the last couple of years, he said. The minister was replying to the cut motion moved by Opposition benches on the Tourism demand.
Speaking about the ongoing tourism season, which started in October 2012, the minister said that till date 950 charter flights have arrived, bringing in around 2.79 lakh tourists, directly. “On an average, for last couple of years, the state has been receiving 600-700 charter flights every season,” he said.
Parulekar said that as per the 2012 report till date 4.25 lakh foreign tourists and 23.3 lakh domestic tourists have visited Goa.
Meanwhile, the minister Wednesday announced that ‘Goa Tourism’ was declared the winner in three categories at “India Best Awards 2012’ announced by travel magazine Travel + Leisure, India and South Asia.
Goa was declared winner in the “Best Party destination”, “Best honeymoon destination” and “Best leisure destination” categories and runner up in the “family and wedding destination” categories.
