PANAJI
Goa has one of India's most recognisable tourism brands. It dominates holiday campaigns, routinely features among the country's most searched leisure destinations on online travel platforms and has long been synonymous with beach tourism. Yet the latest official tourism data tells a different story: the State has failed to find a place among India's top 10 destinations for domestic tourist visits for the third consecutive year.
The Ministry of Tourism’s official data ranks Uttar Pradesh as the country's most visited State with 646.81 million domestic tourist visits, followed by Tamil Nadu (306.84 million), Karnataka (304.56 million), Andhra Pradesh (290.27 million) and Rajasthan (230.08 million). Maharashtra, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Kerala complete the top 10.
Goa is nowhere on that list, and the pattern is not new. The State also failed to feature among the top 10 in 2023 and 2024, even as domestic tourism across India continued to expand at a rapid pace.
In 2024, the country's top 10 domestic tourism destinations were Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana. A year earlier, in 2023, the list comprised Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Goa did not feature in either year's rankings.
The rankings illustrate a broader shift in Indian tourism. States that have invested in diversified tourism offerings -- ranging from religious and heritage circuits to eco-tourism and urban leisure -- are attracting visitor numbers that Goa, despite its global brand recognition, has not been able to match.
The contrast is particularly striking because Goa continues to enjoy a visibility that far exceeds its size. Travel platforms regularly place the State among India's preferred holiday destinations, while its beaches, nightlife and hospitality industry remain central to its tourism identity.
But strong brand recall has not translated into visitor volumes comparable with the country's largest tourism markets.
The State's challenge is even more evident in international tourism.
As per the India Tourism Data Compendium, an annual publication by the Ministry of Tourism for 2024-25, Maharashtra led the country with foreign tourist visits, followed by West Bengal, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Goa did not feature among the leading States despite international tourism having historically been one of the principal drivers of its economy.
The longer-term trend underscores that shift. Goa welcomed nearly 900,000 foreign tourists in 2017 and by 2025, that figure declined to around 500,000. Domestic arrivals, meanwhile, have risen from about 6.8 million in 2016 to more than 10 million last year.
The officials have attributed the decline in foreign arrivals to geopolitical uncertainties affecting global travel. However, Goa's performance is not without bright spots.
Upper Fort Aguada entered the country's list of the 10 most visited centrally protected ticketed monuments for domestic tourists in 2024-25, drawing 1.36 million visitors, up 14.01 per cent from the previous year. International visitors to the monument also increased by 25.11 per cent, rising from 10,411 to 13,025.
Even so, the comparison with India's biggest heritage attractions is revealing. The Taj Mahal, the country's most visited ticketed ASI monument, recorded 6.26 million domestic visitors during the same period -- nearly five times the footfall at Upper Fort Aguada.
Industry stakeholders are unmoved by the rankings. Travel and Tourism Association of Goa President Jack Sukhija told The Goan that Goa is relatively small in size and the State's tourism strategy has shifted towards value rather than volume.
“Goa remains one of the country's preferred destinations for high-end leisure travel, corporate MICE events, destination weddings and premium hospitality,” he said.
