PANAJI
Goa witnessed a heavy tourist influx over the Independence Day weekend with hoteliers and tourism stakeholders reporting near-full occupancy across the State.
According to the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) President Jack Sukhija, hotels clocked at least 85-90 per cent occupancy, making it one of the most impressive weekends this monsoon season so far.
Incessant rainfall did little to deter visitors as the coastal belt remained crowded. With Independence Day falling on a Friday, many working professionals stretched the break by taking just two additional days off, turning it into a five-day holiday.
Beach shack operator Cruz Cardozo said that despite the absence of shacks and Goa recording heavy rains, coastal restaurants were packed.
“We had Indian tourists, including many drive-in visitors. We saw vehicles from neighbouring States,” he said.
Travel aggregators had earlier reported a surge in advance bookings while other popular domestic destinations such as Puducherry, Udaipur and Ooty, etc turned out to be Goa’s strong competitors.
Online travel platform ixigo reported a sharp rise in demand for beach getaways in Goa, with airfares from Delhi and Mumbai surging by over 100 per cent week-on-week. Other top domestic destinations this season include Dehradun, Port Blair and Coimbatore.
According to Airbnb, based on bookings made by Indians between January and June 2025 for check-ins during August 15–17, Goa topped the list of most booked destinations, followed by Bengaluru, Pune, Shillong and Puducherry.
Goa’s hospitality sector also anticipated a spike in mid-August. However, they are less hopeful for the latter half of the month as Ganesh Chaturthi festival will see families celebrating at their native places.
The otherwise buoyant weekend also witnessed trouble when four tourists from Jharkhand were arrested for allegedly assaulting policemen on duty at Betul sunset point. Taxi-related issues, which remain a long-standing complaint among visitors, also cast a shadow on the otherwise upbeat Independence Day holiday.
