The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: Following conversation on social media on how Goa’s tourism has seen better days, the state government has released a statement saying that efforts to compare the state to foreign countries will “yield an inaccurate perspective.”
On November 5, social media participant Ramanuj Mukherjee wrote on X that “tourism in Goa is down in [the] dumps.” Mukherjee cited numbers from the database CEIC to illustrate that the state has seen a downward slide of foreign tourists.
Goa’s long coastline and rivers have made it a tourist favourite for decades now. However, Mukherjee said, “Russians and Brits who used to visit annually have opted for Sri Lanka instead.”
Many responded to his post and recounted how highhandedness of local cab drivers and hotels have given them a hard time at Goa.
A user on X wrote that “Goa’s taxi mafia is responsible for it” and recounted a purported incident involving taxi drivers who were ready to beat passengers up for opting for a taxi from another region. Similar stories were shared by many others.
The state government appears to have taken exception to the ‘Sri Lanka’ comparison in particular.
“It is important to note that Goa is a state within India, whereas destinations Goa is being compared to… like Sri Lanka are countries. Comparing a state to a country may yield an inaccurate perspective,” it said, according to a report by Indian Express.
The report noted:
Acknowledging that Goa does face challenges of “limited scheduled international air connectivity”, the department said the government is working closely with the Centre to relook at point of call and additional seat entitlement for Goa to establish “more robust international connections”.
The department also claimed that like any other tourist destination, Goa is governed by market forces and “at times the air and hotel components make Goa expensive, leaving the potential tourist seeking alternate options.”
The Tourism department also claimed that Goa experienced a “robust resurgence” in domestic tourism, with over 8 million (80 lakh) domestic visitors in 2023, which it said surpasses pre-pandemic figures.