Thursday, December 23, 2021
For Goa, this is no regular tourist season for the small coastal Indian state, which is reliant on tourism for more than 16 per cent of its gross domestic product.
2021 was supposed to be the year that international travel gathered speed after being battered by the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing with it a promising tourist season for Goa, which is profoundly dependent on tourist dollars, especially from abroad.
However, the Omicron variant has changed everything, once again compelling the cancelation of international charter flights.
It has been a harsh two years for majority of Goa’s population, 35 per cent of which depends directly on tourism for employment. At the height of the pandemic, the income that the state typically earns from tourism dropped by 70 per cent.
“We have been badly hit,” said Menino D’Souza, the director of tourism for Goa’s state government.
As per official figures,there’s more than 80 per cent decline in international tourists visiting Goa during the pandemic, with around 937,000 foreigners arriving in 2019 compared to just 17,431 from January to September of this year.
State officials lobbied with the Indian government for the return of international charter flights, securing that for mid-December. However, the Omicron variant thwarted those plans.
“With all these efforts of ours, and suddenly, we find one day that this new strain has come.… All the efforts have gone in vain,” said D’Souza.
Tags: goa tourism
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