Tourists throng to Goa on Diwali break

After a long hiatus due to COVID-19 and the monsoon, Goa’s tourism is back on track, with thousands of domestic tourists visiting the state by road and air. Though international flights haven’t resumed yet, Goa managed to draw a sizeable number of Indian travellers during the Diwali break. The last weekend saw crowds at the beaches, though not all shacks and nightclubs were crowded.However, crowds were spotted at sunsets at some of the popular beaches in North and South Goa.
Though tourists are pouring in, shacks and nightclubs aren’t seeing the kind of business they did during this time, during the previous years. Cruz Cardozo, president of Goa Shack Owners’ Welfare Society tells us, “We started just a couple of weeks ago. The last week has been decent, business picked up during the weekend and we hope for it to get better here on. However, it’s nothing like the previous years.” Ashwin Goankar, operations manager at Tito’s tells us, “It wasn’t fully packed, not like it used to be. Surprisingly, a lot of North Indians were down, as compared to people from the neighbouring states. Probably because of Diwali vacations. But we are hoping for the season to pick up by mid-December.”
Hotels have been seeing over 80% occupancy, with rooms being almost sold out for the next 10 days too. “The last week was great, and the next week looks promising. Most starred properties and even smaller hotels have seen good business, and have bookings for the next few days,” says Nilesh Shah, president of Travel and Tourism Association of Goa.