Goa Tourism hosts key meeting to address challenges and explore opportunities

Goa Tourism: In a proactive move to reinforce Goa’s position as a premier tourism destination, the Department of Tourism, Government of Goa, convened a high-level stakeholder meeting at Paryatan Bhavan, Panjim

The meeting was chaired by Hon’ble Minister for Tourism, Shri Rohan A. Khaunte, and attended by key officials including Shri Kedar Naik, Director of Tourism; Shri Kuldeep Arolkar, Managing Director of GTDC; Shri Shawn Mendes, OSD to the Hon’ble Minister; and leading members of the tourism industry and Goa Tourism Board.

In his opening remarks, Hon’ble Minister Shri Rohan A. Khaunte emphasized the importance of timely and structured stakeholder engagements, particularly in light of national and regional developments. Referring to the recent Pahalgam incident in Kashmir, he noted, “As the Hon’ble Prime Minister ensured a swift and resolute response through Operation Sindoor, it was equally important for us, as a tourism-driven state, to evaluate the ripple effects on travel sentiment. Today’s meeting was not only about addressing current concerns, but also about building long-term resilience. We are moving from mere policy reviews to dynamic recalibrations that are responsive to ground realities. Goa’s strength lies in its people—every Goan is a stakeholder, an influencer, and a tourism ambassador.”

Director of Tourism, Shri Kedar Naik, underlined the Department’s commitment to listening, learning, and enabling. “We are here to ensure that the voice of every stakeholder is heard. From formal hotels to homestays, from digital platforms to community operators—Goa Tourism belongs to all of them. The goal is to ensure that our policies remain inclusive, adaptive, and implementation-ready.”

The Department also shared encouraging data, with Goa witnessing a 10.5% year-on-year growth in tourist arrivals for the first quarter of 2025, rising from 25,80,155 in Q1 2024 to 28,51,554 in Q1 2025. While the month of April saw a marginal dip, the overall sentiment remains strong, and targeted strategies are being deployed to address seasonal and market-specific variations.

The full-day series of sectoral and plenary sessions reflected the Government’s emphasis on collaborative governance. From understanding how the previous season unfolded, to jointly preparing for emerging challenges—whether geopolitical, geoeconomic, or geostrategic—the consultations reaffirmed Goa Tourism’s commitment to collective foresight and resilience-building.

The concerns raised during today’s discussions, along with those from previous meetings, have been consolidated. The Hon’ble Chief Minister will soon be chairing an interdepartmental meeting to drive a more coordinated response and lasting resolutions to the challenges at hand.