Goa Tourism to benefit as summer in North India, Maharashtra and Gujarat likely to be extremely hot this year

MUMBAI: With Mumbai and most of Maharashtra experiencing an extremely hot March – the temperature recorded at Mumbai was 39 deg Celsius on Sunday, about 5 to 6 degrees above normal, domestic tourism in Goa is likely to experience a huge spurt in the coming weeks.

Goemkars must prepare for crowded beaches, traffic snarls at tourist points like the Casino jetties in Panaji and the Panaji circle, just outside the capital city.

A long Holi weekend this week could mean hordes of domestic tourists making a beeline for Goan beaches and shores, to keep away from the heat back home.

And with Covid restrictions relaxed to almost those of pre-Covid days, Goa should have a bountiful summer domestic tourism season starting from this weekend, that could more than mitigate the loss of business from Russian charter tourists due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, opine travel experts.

Not just Maharashtra, the Met department has forecast a very warm summer for North India, Gujarat, Maharashtra, including Bihar and other parts of the country.

This just means that Goans, particularly those connected to the hospitality and travel industry must gear up to welcome lakhs of domestic tourists during March, April and May this year.

Goa’s new government led by Dr Pramod Sawant must make arrangements for tourists, step up policing to avoid fights and ensure that the Goan economy gets charged up with the increased business.

Water sports, adventure tourism, hinterland tourism and other tourism-related activity must be primed to ensure tourists experience a new Goa – creating long-term business opportunities for the domestic tourism sector.