Team Herald
PANJIM: Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte on Monday claimed that the State saw a tourist footfall of 1.4 crore last year, according to conservative estimates from the Department of Tourism, which used data from air, rail, and road travellers.
Speaking to media personnel at the Tourism Stakeholder Conclave in Dona Paula, Khaunte stated that 99.41 lakh domestic and 4.67 lakh foreign tourists arrived in Goa
in 2024.
He highlighted that the State experienced a 22 per cent year-on-year growth compared to 2023. Additionally, 54 per cent more tourists visited the State in December 2024 compared to December 2023. The quarterly growth for the last quarter, i.e., October to December, stood at 38 per cent, he informed.
In a record of sorts, the last week of December saw 200 flights arriving in Goa per day, which Khaunte described as unprecedented.
According to Khaunte, the number of domestic tourists increased by 22 per cent, while the number of foreign tourists rose by 3 per cent. When asked about the low rate of foreign tourist growth, the Minister asserted that, given that Asian tourism has yet to recover from the damage caused by Covid-19 and currently stands at -18 per cent, a 3 per cent growth in foreign tourists in Goa is a positive outcome and better than the national average.
He said, “Tourism in Goa has recovered to more than 50 per cent of pre-Covid levels. Goa continues to be a favourite tourist destination.”
Khaunte condemned the attacks on Goa that emerged through social media influencers in the last quarter of December 2024, which he claimed were triggered by ‘unverified data’ released by the China Economic Information Centre.