Tourism minister says tourist arrivals have increased

Against the backdrop of allegations by the stakeholders on the decline in the tourism industry, Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar has said that the number of foreign tourists arriving in the State have been on the rise in last three years. In a written reply tabled on the floor of the House, the minister said that 9.33 lakh tourists arrived during calendar year 2018 as against 8.90 lakh for the year 2017 and 6.80 lakh for the year 2016.
“Except for Russia, there has not been any major reduction of charter flights for Goa. However, the number of tourists’ arrival by charters has reduced marginally,” he added. For the tourist season 2017-18, total 2.47 lakh foreign tourists arrived by chartered flights but their number reduced to 2.18 lakh for the year 2018-19. He further said that the department is making all efforts to ensure foreign tourists arrive in Goa but it was left up to the tourists and the travel agents to decide the best mode of transportation either charter or otherwise. 

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