Panaji: Amidst traffic jams and New Year revelers thronging the beaches on December 31, the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) pitched for improvement in transport facilities, better cleanliness and crackdown on touts to boost the tourism industry prospects in 2025.
TTAG president Jack Sukija said five-star hotels have brought down the room rates over the last few days to lift up occupancy during year-end.
“Rooms are available this year-end as against the trend of hotel rooms in Goa being always full on December 31. Travelers want to avoid the crowds that the state is famous for during New Year eve and also the high air fares are a deterrent. Overall 2024 was good for tourist footfalls and the state continues to retain its popularity as a travel destination,” said Sukhija.
The travel industry body has urged the government to clean-up the act on the transport front. “The requirement of the day is technology-based, taxi booking services. The industry is not asking for Ola or Uber, but even the ONDC promoted app, viz. the Nama Yatri, a direct-to-driver app of the government which does not charge commission with no middle-men and is available in cities like Bengaluru,” said the TTAG president.
He said beach cleanliness is being undertaken by the government however garbage dumped along the roads is an unpleasant sight. Further, touts on the beaches, who fleece tourists, need to be removed.
From January till September 2024, Goa witnessed total 71.8 lakh tourists, of which with 69.24 lakh were domestic visitors and 2.6 lakh, international travelers. Foreign tourist footfall is gradually increasing albeit it is not at the pre-Covid level when in 2019, total 9.37 lakh foreign tourists made it to the state.
