Goa Tourism Minister Rohan Khoute on Thursday slammed the “payment” social media affected, claiming that they were spreading false narratives about tourism in the state.
Speaking during the ongoing Vidhan Sabha session, Khoute said that the arrival of tourists in Goa has steadily increased. “There is no decline in tourism,” the minister told the House.
During the hour of question, BJP MLA Michael Lobo asked if the minister is aware of the decline in tourist footfall, especially international tourists “visited the state and questioned the functioning to calculate the data of tourist arrival.
“Goa is not being considered as a favorite destination by some European tourists. Tourists in Europe want to come to Goa, but they want a visa-on-back feature. What will happen? Visa-on-Return will be a game-chanter,” he said. Lobo, which represents the Calangute constituency, also asked measures to address issues related to illegal touting, taxis and waste disposal in the coastal belts.
Dismissing Lobo’s claims, Khoute said that the tourism of Goa is “strong upwards” due to efforts and initiatives by the state and central governments.
He said, “Flights and hotels are almost filled. We can see (Goan) development. In the last six months, both airports have seen high legs continuously, and the hotel occupation has been between 70 and 100 percent throughout the year,” he said.
He said, “Many of these so -called affected are sitting outside the state and are being paid to create noise and disseminate false narratives. But when we presented the official data, none of them competed.
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What figures suggest
Khoute said that Goa recorded 71.27 lakh domestic and 9.37 lakh international tourists in 2019, and in 2024, the footfall increased to 99. 41 lakh domestic and 4.67 lakh international tourists. He said, “This reflects 39 percent increase in domestic tourism compared to pre-covered levels and 50 percent recovery in international tourism. The number clearly shows that tourism is complete,” he said.
Between January and June 2025, according to data presented by the Minister in the House, 51.83 lakh domestic tourists and 2.71 lakh foreign tourists have visited Goa. A total of 1.04 crore tourists visited the state in 2024, more than 2023 when 86.28 lakh tourists visited. According to the data, 99.41 lakh domestic tourists visited Goa in 2023 in 2023 in 2023, while the number of foreign tourists increased from 4.52 lakhs in 2023 to 4.67 lakhs in 2024.
In 2020, when the epidemic hit, 26.71 lakh domestic tourists and 3 lakh foreign tourists visited Goa. In 2021, during the second wave, only 22,128 foreign tourists and 33.08 lakh domestic tourists visited Goa. In 2022, the number increased by 1.69 lakh foreign tourists and 70.18 lakh domestic tourists.
The minister said that Goa’s post-Covid recovery has surpassed other states, and called Gones to “participate in a positive story”.
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Accepting that the state had “like every other tourist destination” challenges, Khoute reiterated the state request to the Center to facilitate the visa-on-recurring facility.
“The E-VISA program is included for more than 170 countries. The visa-on-back facility is currently banned for a select group of four countries including Japan, South Korea, UAE and Russia, and only six nominated metro is operational at airports. Visa-on-Article Airport,” he said.
The minister said that Goa tapped into emerging markets such as Poland, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, “which had no limited or no direct tourism relationship with the state”. He said, “This development has been attributed to the target international roadshow and constant global destination promotion, which has expanded the reach of Goa and visibility across the new geography,” he said.
In the written reply to the arrival of tourists, the minister said that the tourism department compiles data from source agencies through various mode flights, rails, ports and roadways.
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