Porvorim: With the turmoil in West Asia threatening to derail Goa’s tourism sector, the sector counted on clarity and incentives to attract global travellers. In his budget for 2026-27, Sawant acknowledged that the conflict between Israel, US and Iran will have a “significant impact” on Goa’s economy, but except for the Inbound Tour Operator Incentive Scheme 2026, not much was on offer to aid the revival of foreign arrivals.“The recent global scenario and its subsequent effects are expected to have a significant impact on the economy of Goa, which is a highly service sector-dependent state,” said Sawant. Going further, while announcing an allocation of Rs 385 crore for the tourism department, Sawant said there was a provision of Rs 2 crore to implement the Inbound Tour Operator Incentive Scheme 2026 in the coming financial year.“The 10% increase in the tourism budget is good, but considering the growth that tourism showed over the last year, a larger boost in the budget would have been beneficial to boost the growth even further,” said Travel and Tourism Association of Goa spokesperson Aakash Madgavkar.Sawant said that govt aims to strengthen international tourism and ensure the resumption of charter flight operations, particularly at the Goa International Airport, Dabolim.Foreign tourist arrivals via charter flights were an important component of Goa’s inbound tourism, particularly from traditional source markets. In 2025, Goa received 189 charter flights carrying 40,336 foreign tourists, with operations distributed between Dabolim and Mopa. Sawant once again reiterated in his budget that both Dabolim and Mopa airports.Sawant said that govt will launch the Goa Wellness, Ayurveda and Yoga Policy as part of a vision to establish Goa as a destination for wellness tourism.“I propose to strengthen destination-level planning, management and visitor experience through an integrated and sustainable approach under the Centre’s ‘Destination Management Scheme’. Under the scheme, approval will be sought from the ministry for destination development and attraction development for an amount of Rs 500 crore,” said Sawant.Sawant said that since tourism is Goa’s backbone, he would request the Centre to consider establishing the National Institute of Hospitality.“The Union Budget announcement of a pilot scheme to skill 10,000 tourist guides at 20 iconic tourist destinations through a certified 12-week hybrid training programme in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Management aims to be implemented in Goa,” said Sawant.While TTAG welcomed infrastructure development projects that were announced, the tourism body called for planning to avoid inconvenience to tourists and locals.
