PANAJI
As the year’s first long weekend opens with Good Friday holiday, Goa is experiencing a tourism boom with hotel occupancy soaring to impressive levels and domestic tourists flocking in, undeterred by the competition from cooler destinations.
The destination’s hotels, particularly in the starred category, are experiencing remarkable levels of occupancy, indicating high demand for accommodations. The airports are already busy handling a huge influx of tourists.
“Goa’s popularity as a sought-after holiday destination has not faded away. Fortunately, the tourism scenario has seen an incredible improvement compared to the last two years. Long weekend and commencement of summer break in some states have spiked the arrivals this month,” President of the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) Nilesh Shah told The Goan.
The two airports are too catering to a record number of arrivals on a daily basis. Both facilities at Dabolim and Mopa are registering over 15,000 arrivals and an equal number of departures. Direct connectivity with new destinations such as Surat, Ahmedabad and Kolkata among others has also increased passenger movement.
“We are recording huge arrivals. Direct connectivity with new destinations is giving us a new set of visitors in addition to repeat clients,” Shah said. Spike in airfares have not deterred visitors from planning their weekend in the coastal State.
President of the Goa Hotel & Restaurant Association Gaurish Dhond confirmed record bookings stating that hotels and resorts are 90-95 percent booked for this weekend and the coming days. “Being Good Friday and the second Saturday of the month, many have a continuous three-day break. As a result, bookings have shot up. Most of the hotels are doing well, and we are expecting the same response from the domestic tourists in the entire summer months,” he said.
Several travel portals have also issued travel tips to Goa besides listing the holiday State’s competitor destinations such as Uttrakhand, Amritsar, Lucknow, Varanasi, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala among others. The stakeholders admit several destinations have re-emerged as Goa’s strong competitors, especially the cold destinations to beat the sweltering heat.
At present, thousands of visitors from the metros -- Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore are holidaying in the State.
