Goa’s hotels open for business, but attrition, skill gaps forcing checkout

Panaji: Dielle trained for two years at one of Goa’s better-known hospitality institutions. She spent another 18 months working her way up from housekeeping to front desk. Then Dubai called with better pay, structured career growth and an employer who did not treat retention as an afterthought. She left last Oct.

This is not one story. Goa’s hospitality sector is writing pink slips.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged Indians to holiday at home. Goa, with over 1.08 crore arrivals in 2025, looks every bit the destination of the moment. But underneath that gleam, industry is staring at a harder truth. The skilled workers it trains, it is increasingly losing.

Skilled hospitality workers, trained at considerable cost by Indian hospitality players, are leaving for Dubai, Singapore and cruise lines, drawn by better wages and global working conditions. The pipeline that domestic tourism’s explosive growth depends on is being drained faster than it is being filled.

“A luxury hotel can be built in 24 months,” said tourism director Kedar Naik. “Building a deeply trained hospitality workforce can take a decade.”

That 10-year lag, set against the urgency of right now, is the quiet emergency beneath Goa’s booming arrivals.





Industry data cited by EHL Hospitality Business School (India, South Asia & Middle East) director and regional head Kanav Mata puts the scale of the problem in plain sight: 1,00,000 to 1,50,000 new skilled workers are needed annually in branded hotels until 2029. Every year.

The traveller walking through Goa’s lobby doors today is not just arriving from Borivali or Bhopal with modest expectations. They have travelled to Bali and Dubai, from European city breaks and southeast Asian beach holidays. “Too many destinations lean on automation and checklists while the human touch gets squeezed,” said Mata. “Fix the talent gap first, and the physical infrastructure will deliver returns tenfold. Without it, you get shiny new properties that feel hollow.”

IHCL Goa senior vice president operations Ranjit Phillipose said that as hospitality expands beyond metros, the demand for skilled professionals who can deliver service excellence and lead teams effectively has grown significantly.

The problem is not confined to Goa.

Mayfair Spring Valley Resort general manager Pardeep Siwach said the same fault line runs through Assam, the northeast, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Kerala. “Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities are becoming significant centres of development giving rise to fresh possibilities for building talent within the country,” he said.

Phillipose said IHCL is investing in structured training, operational exposure and leadership development, working alongside institutions, including the Institute of Hotel Management. IHCL Goa has also signed an MoU with state govt for a dedicated skilling centre at Aguada plateau. “The middle-management segment remains crucial to operational consistency and guest experience,” he said.