Goa Cruise Terminal: Goa's Murmugao Port Authority (MPA) has announced to build an international and domestic passenger terminal in Goa by March 2025. The number of cruise passengers is expected to increase by 40 percent in the year 2023-2024, and it is also likely to increase further. A senior MPA official said that the development of international and domestic cruise terminals and related facilities will boost tourism as well as the local economy.

Goa tourism was badly affected due to Corona since the year 2020, but the influx of domestic and foreign guests in Goa's tourist industry, which has been facing recession for the last 4 years, has now increased rapidly. In view of this, emphasis has been laid on building this cruise terminal and it will be completed next year.

Services like duty-free retail shops, lounges, food courts

Due to the boom in global cruise ship traffic, the arrival of cruise ships at Murmugao port has increased rapidly and is likely to increase significantly in the future, said the MPA official during the Maritime State Development Council meeting held in Goa on September 12 and 13. During the meeting, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal visited the proposed state-of-the-art building. This building will have international and domestic cruise terminals. The official said, "The new facility will take special care of the passengers. This international cruise terminal will have 24 immigration counters, 10 check-in counters, a waiting lounge and other facilities. Also, the terminal will have duty-free retail shops, lounges, food courts and other facilities."

Goa's beaches are buzzing with tourists again

Goa has always been a major attraction for domestic and foreign tourists in India. The tourism industry here had to face a crisis due to the impact of Corona. Even the number of tourists declined by more than 90 percent. After this, the Tourism Department of the Goa Government started many schemes like 'International Charter Assistance', 'Tourism Trade Assistance' to recover from the Covid-19 epidemic. After all these government efforts, once again the beaches here are buzzing with domestic and foreign guests. In the year 2023-24, the number of cruise ships coming here has increased by 15 percent and the number of cruise passengers has increased by 40 percent as compared to the year 2022-23.

Tourism is the mainstay of the economy in Goa. According to media reports, Goa is the first choice of about 20 percent of the total tourists coming to India. According to government data, 4.03 lakh foreign tourists visited Goa during January-November 2023. At the same time, according to the Tourism Department of the Goa Government, in the year 2019, about 71 lakh domestic tourists and about 10 lakh foreign tourists came to Goa.