The New Year started on a sombre and yet almost comical note for the tiny beach state of Goa. A post by a Goa settler and some other visitors on social media featuring empty roads in the state’s party belt got the state’s tourism minister Rohan Khaunte up in arms, threatening to file defamation suits against what he calls “anti-Indian influencers”.

This is somewhat akin to India’s perennial “foreign hand at play” conspiracy theory as many readers would be familiar with and is tantamount to shooting the messenger. The minister was of the view that in fact Goa was a threat to many countries and states and those claiming it was empty on the New Year weekend are part of a larger conspiracy to destabilise the state. In a highly emotional, over- the-top reaction, the minister added that “tourism numbers will never reduce” in Goa, adding that this year had surpassed last year’s, without offering any concrete data to support his claim.

Let me set the record straight for readers interested. Data is not the state’s (or the country’s) forte but anecdotally there is a mountain of evidence to suggest a perceptible drop in Goa’s ability to pull in tourists, not only as a party destination over Christmas and New Year but all the year round. Actual tourist data comes in with a lag and captures only around 70% of the true picture, according to officials.

To understand the kind of beating Goa’s tourism has taken in the last year or so - Khaunte protests notwithstanding - one just needs to speak to a smattering of people vested in the industry and a few facts emerge.

One, the fall seems sharper when compared with 2022 and 2023, which saw a surge in tourists due to, what’s been called, the post-pandemic revenge travel. Two, the drop is the sharpest in the North beach belt, which is the main........

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