Panaji: Goa tourism is witnessing a “little low” during the current month due to the tensions that prevailed following the terrorist attack at Pahalgam, Minister Rohan Khaunte said on Tuesday.
Khaunte on Tuesday held a day-long series of meetings with tourism stakeholders to discuss the current situation of the sector.
Representatives of the Tourism Trade Association of Goa, water sports operators, shack owners, and the hotel industry — including five-star and four-star properties — participated in the meeting with Khaunte.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, the Tourism Minister said that the first quarter of the calendar year had better numbers compared to 2024.
“The month of April was a little low due to exams and other factors. The Pahalgam attack is definitely going to affect tourism this month (May),” Khaunte said.
The Minister said that Goa tourism is seeing a lot of cancellations in terms of hotel bookings, both from international and domestic travellers.
He said that the country was shaken after the Pahalgam attack, but the Prime Minister, through his entire team, ensured there was a proper strike back.
“During the meeting, tourism stakeholders were asked to review the setbacks that tourism may face in the future due to the Pahalgam situation,” he said.
Khaunte said that during the meeting, the department asked the five-star and four-star category hotels to begin brainstorming, as “we have our challenges.”
“Sometimes, adversity allows us to work towards better opportunities. Five-star and four-star hotels are now talking about MICE, monsoon tourism, and re-evaluating their rates. They have to consider the overall tourism scenario,” he said.
Khaunte noted that hotels and airfares are currently high, which makes Goa a costlier destination.
He said that middle-income and upper-middle-income brackets have become more active travellers post-budget announcements due to increased savings.
“Looking at this, they are exploring alternate destinations — maybe different countries like Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Goa has been a preferred destination,” he said.
Khaunte said that after the ceasefire, it may take a little time to resume momentum, but that time can be used to make corrections. “There are a lot of things that can be done,” he said.
“The figures were promising for the first quarter. For the next quarter, we are looking at international travel. We have participated in tourism marts and are focusing on monsoon tourism for visitors from the UAE. Today, everyone is in a mood to put things in proper perspective,” he said.
The Minister said that in the current season, Goa had travellers from Poland, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan arriving via chartered flights, and some through scheduled flights.
“We are expecting double the number of Russians for the upcoming year compared to last year,” he added.
