Goa thrives on domestic tourism surge; eyes global market, digital nomad appeal

livemint.com:

Mint. The state has welcomed 10 million tourists since March, exceeding its pre-pandemic figures. This represents a potential 30% increase from 8.1 million visitors seen in 2019 However, the state's international tourism, particularly from the UK and Russia, has yet to fully recover India's bilateral issues with the UK and the Russia-Ukraine war have had a major impact on international tourist arrivals. To counter this, Goa is diversifying its tourism strategy.

It's looking at new international markets and promoting cruise tourism, an untapped sector promising substantial revenue. "Cruise tourism was never there on the tourist map earlier. Every ship that comes in brings about 3,000 individuals, most of whom are big spenders.

We are expecting 42 ships to come in this year. In the long run, it will give us more fully independent travellers or FITs and that will help give the state additional tourism revenue," he added. Another strategy is the proposal for a 'digital nomad' visa for those who want to come to the country and stay for a short period of time.

Digital nomads are tech freelancers who don't necessarily work from any particular place. The state is hoping the Centre will speed up work on this visa category soon. "Around 50 countries around the world have realised the potential of digital nomad tourists and in their ability to spend and live in their country on a short term basis.

We need to ensure that the center and the state work together on policies like these. Goa can be the ideal model for the country to showcase. This can contribute so much to the local tourism economy for Goa and we are determined to make tech tourism a reality soon.