Goa Is Opened Up For Tourism; Here Is What You Need To Know

Goa, the most sought after tourism destination has finally opened up for the tourism. Domestic tourism started picking up from the month of September and now from 15th October onwards even the foreign chartered tourists have been given a green signal to enter Goa.

With Goa opening up fully by the mid of November to all the tourists and international flights there are many things that you need to understand and follow the guidelines to make sure that you are others remain safe.

The permission of entry currently granted only to the chartered tourists from Russia and UK while the all other tourists will be able to enter Goa only after the international flights will be allowed to operate from 15th November 2021. 

#Goa will have a good tourist season this year, especially with international flights to the country scheduled to resume by November 15, Chief Minister #PramodSawant (@DrPramodPSawant) said on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/Hj4D7MjFSo

— IANS Tweets (@ians_india) October 9, 2021

Chief Minister of Goa Dr Pramod Sawant made an announcement saying that “Goa will have a Good Tourism season this year, especially with International flights to the country scheduled to resume from 15th November,” he said on Saturday while speaking with IANS New Agency. 

Tourism Industry of Goa 

The tourism industry of Goa which include its stakeholders and dependents have thanked the Union Ministry for taking a note of their demand and opening up the state boundaries for International tourism for upcoming season. 

Although the permission has been granted for the chartered flights to land in Goa from 15th October but looking at the visa and other formalities the chartered flights may begin in the beginning of November and if everything goes smooth as expected, the international flings will also commenced from 15th November. 

“It was largely due to our requests that the Central government decided to allow foreigners to arrive in Goa. Goa makes up 92% of the charter flight arrivals in the country and the announcement ahead of the season will allow us to plan in advance and allow charter companies to book slots at the Goa airport,” president of the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG), a body which represents businessmen from the tourism industry, Nilesh Shah told the HT.  

According to the TTAG, the process took lot of efforts, persistent communication between the industry that helped the state government to speed up the process of opening Goa for tourism activities with the help of Union government. 

Tourism Business in Goa

According to the association the state generates the foreign exchange of approximately 29 billion US dollars per annum with the help of 40 million skilled and trained manpower employed in the tourism sector. But the pandemic had had adversity affected the state’s economy for the last two years.  

“With the full closure of international flights and visas since March 2020, many operators and stakeholders have shut shop and are facing severe financial constraints,” the TTAG had said.

The stakeholders of the tourism sector had tried to reopen the sector in 2020 too in a limited scope but the second wave struck and everything went back to square. But now since the cases have started flattening with the death rate has come down to near zero the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) gave a green signal to open the sector. 

“In 2020 the domestic tourists were showing off as the rate of cases has started going down but the foreign nationals remained absent due to ban on international flights,” said the TTAG.

Tourism Season in Goa

The tourism season in Goa begins with end of Monsoon every year and this is the first time after after the closure of tourism activities due to the pandemic that the tourists have started floating to the this tiny state with the end of Monsoon season. 

The Russians and British nationals comes to Goa to escape from their severe winter during this time. Goa’s tropical climate is the first choice of many foreigners.  

The UK, Germany, Poland, Russia and Ukraine are the primary sources of foreign tourists to Goa. Visas weren’t relaxed last year as much of Europe was battling an especially severe second wave at the time.  

For many who had made a winter visit to Goa an annual affair, not being able to travel to Goa and having to spend Christmas back in the UK was something they “never experienced before.”

Fully Vaccinated Goa

Goa is the second state in the country after the Uttarakhand to have achieved 100% vaccination by vaccinating its targeted population with at least one dose of the vaccine.

The CM had announced in the month of August that at the state will allow the tourism soon after the state Achieves 100% vaccination.