In recent days, all and sundry have commented about the state of tourism in Goa. The party capital of India has been at the receiving end from both its citizens and tourists.
Citizens have complained of the Goa of today not having the charm of Goa of yesterday due to overtourism, unbridled infrastructure expansion and poor behaviour by touts. Tourists have also vented their displeasure against crowds, unclean beaches and the taxi mafia.
That said, airlines and hotel chains are adding capacity in Goa like never before. The growth is where the problem lies. More and more passengers flocking to the tiny state means that resources are stretched, demand pushes up prices and to satisfy the demand more taxis come on road, more hotels are built impacting the natural beauty and putting stress on the limited and finite resources like beaches.
Data obtained from Cirium, an aviation analytics company, shows that with the two airports combined which serve the western state of Goa have seen more flights combined than ever before. The footfalls at these airports also correlate with the growth being fuelled by passengers.
What do the numbers say?
The two airports at Goa now see 16 airlines, as compared to 14 in 2019 which Goa Dabolim handled. This is despite the fact that a few like TruJet shut shop and AirAsia India and Vistara merged with Air India Express and Air India respectively. There has been a 37% rise in total flights with a typical week in December 2019 seeing 581 departures from Goa Dabolim, while December 2024 will see 796 weekly departures across the two airports in Goa.
Domestic flights have grown 37% while international too have gone up by 31% to 46 per week in December 2024, as compared to 35 per week in December 2019. Yet the international footfalls are down, which is a story across the country, even as air traffic has crossed the pre-COVID levels. This is largely driven by Indians flying abroad rather than foreigners travelling to India for tourism.
Overall seats available have also gone up 1.5 times this December as compared to pre-COVID. Come December, there will be 1,47,571 weekly seats to and from Goa, of which 1,38,126 will be on domestic flights while the rest being on International. There has been a quantum jump in destinations which are connected. While international flights remain the same, at 13 destinations – which includes charter operations, domestic flights now connect the two airports of Goa to 38 destinations in the country 9 more than what it was pre pandemic.
The domestic footfalls have gone up by 40% but the international footfalls are down by 23% despite the same number of destinations and an increase in seats. The foreigners are not coming to Goa argument is a reality and everything from safety, to alternative options, war in Europe and more are valid reasons.
Tail Note
Not just airlines, the Taj group of hotels has been betting on Goa with 12 properties ranging from business to leisure hotels and four more under development, Marriott group adding brands in the state and so has Radisson. Taj Hotel’s investor presentation lists Goa’s Average Room Rate at INR 14,350 for Q2-FY25, next only to Rajasthan and Mumbai – which have iconic Taj Properties.
However, there is no denying the fact that Goa needs to reinvent. Tourist destinations worldwide keep reinventing themselves to ensure that they get repeat tourism. Singapore is a classic example, where it is continuously reinventing and adding attractions. Goa on the other hand has not done anything like this holistically. The state has immense potential and is blessed with natural beauty. Can it now shift itself as a premium destination and move beyond booze and casino? The whole ecosystem will benefit if it moves up the chain, but to do that the state would need to invest heavily in everything from cleanliness to tourist police. WIll it?