Rs 385 cr outlay, charter incentives, wellness policy announced
PANAJI
Betting on tourism as one of the major economic drivers, the Goa government earmarked Rs 385 crore for the tourism department in the 2026–27 budget as Chief Minister Pramod Sawant announced a fresh incentive scheme to revive charter arrivals and expand international tourism.
While announcing the Budget, the CM hailed sharp recovery of tourism numbers, stating Goa recorded 1.08 crore arrivals in 2025, with international visitors rising by 10.66 per cent compared to previous year.
“To boost international tourism and restart charter flight operations, the government proposes to launch the Inbound Tour Operator Incentive Scheme 2026 from this financial year. This will be a performance-based incentive scheme, for which a provision of Rs 2 crore has been made,” he further said.
The government also proposed a Goa Wellness, Ayurveda and Yoga Policy 2026, for creating a regulatory and accreditation framework for wellness, Ayurveda and yoga centres across the state. The policy seeks to position Goa as a credible global destination for wellness tourism.
As infrastructure development remains a central plank of the tourism push, the government, under the Goa Tourism Development Corporation, has sought to complete 32 tourism-related projects during 2026–27. A capital outlay of Rs 104 crore has been earmarked to undertake these works.
Sawant also said the state would tap into the Centre’s Destination Management Scheme to implement integrated destination-level planning and visitor management systems. The Union government has approved Rs 500 crore under the initiative for destination development and the upgradation of tourist attractions.
In the hospitality education sector, the Goa government plans to request the Centre to set up the National Institute of Hospitality, following the Union Budget announcement to upgrade the National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology into a national institute. Besides, the state also intends to set up a state-of-the-art hospitality skilling centre at Aguada Plateau and Sinquerim through a public–private partnership model.
The CM further announced that the government will collaborate with the Indian Institute of Management to implement a pilot program announced in the Union Budget to train 10,000 tourist guides at 20 iconic destinations through a certified 12-week hybrid course – a bid to enhance the skills of tourist guides and improve the visitor experience in Goa.
