The air fares to Goa see an immense rise during Christmas and New Year, making holiday in the beach state an expensive affair.
As the government stepped in to regulate domestic air fares, Goa's tourism industry hopes the move will provide a fillip to tourist inflow during the Christmas and New Year.
"There should be rationalisation of the air fares, especially during peak season. This will save a lot of travellers from preferring to spend holidays in the neighbouring countries," Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) spokesperson Ralf D'Souza said.
It is ironical that the domestic travelling has been costlier than the international travel, he said.
"If it costs more to travel to Goa than Malaysia or Singapore or Sri Lanka, its natural people will go abroad," said the spokesperson of Goa's apex tourism body.
The air fares to Goa see an immense rise during Christmas and New Year, making holiday in the beach state an expensive affair. "The plane ticket from Mumbai to Goa had crossed Rs 20,000 per passenger for last New Year," he said.
"For everything there is a limit," D'Souza said, reacting to the high air fares to Goa, especially during the peak season. "When short domestic flights cost more than international flights, we take a beating."
Goa attracts around 24 lakh tourists, 20 lakh of them from within India, annually.
D'Souza said many of the travellers plan their vacations at the last minute.
"If they find that on the spot air tickets are expensive, they will prefer to go to the destinations which are cheaper," the TTAG spokesperson said.
The tourism industry has noted that the domestic tourists have given up the traditional practice of visiting Goa on long weekends. Instead, they spend more time here.
"Many a time, they travel in their own vehicles and spend longer holidays in the state," D'Souza added.
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