Gaurish Dhond, president of the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG), said that barring the days of Christmas and New Year, the tourism business in Goa was extremely lean.
“The high hike in air and bus fares has really hit the tourism industry hard. The rest of the season has been extremely poor,” Dhond told reporters. Dhond's TTAG has been the voice of tourism industry stakeholders for the last three decades.
“Malaysia and Sri Lanka have been offering three-night packages for as low as Rs.15,000 inclusive of flight tickets. Why will domestic tourists want to come to Goa if competing destinations abroad offer such cheap rates?”
Airfares to Goa zoomed up to Rs.30,000 per ticket from Delhi, while normal cost per ticket from the capital is only about Rs.6,000.
“Something has to be done to control the airfare. Such pricing will kill the tourists coming to Goa,” Dhond said. Goa's sunny beaches attract an average of 2.4 million tourists annually, out of which nearly half a million are foreigners.