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Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit

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Goa beyond beachrot—inland hotels are the next vacation frontier

Every Postcard hotel in Goa is located inland, including one in the village of Saligao, another that’s spread across 20 acres in the wildlife sanctuary of Netravali, and an ayurveda retreat in Old Goa.

In 2024, around the time falling tourist numbers were beginning to sound the alarm, the Goa Tourism Development Corporation launched the “Goa Beyond Beaches” campaign. The department’s pitch document opened by describing Goa as “an idea of openness, cultural harmony, and a way of life that balances celebration with serenity”. 

It outlined the department’s intent to go past the short-term goal of attracting visitors and instead create a tourism ecosystem that integrates culture, community, sustainability, and experience-driven travel. The Goa Brand — the document announced — “is no longer confined to postcards of beaches and sunsets.” 

Underneath the prose, the department’s programmes include focusing on Goa’s spiritual circuit or Ekadash Teerth, and initiatives like heritage walks, food trails, and bed-and-breakfast schemes in “villages where centuries-old traditions still flourish”. The policy promises travellers a taste of Goa’s hinterlands. Over the years, private operators have started offering trails that take you to inland destinations like Tambdi Surla to see a 12th-century temple, monsoon treks into the state’s many forests or jaunts around a spice farm, and private tours with archaeologists to look at 9,000-year-old petroglyphs. 

Still, for the bulk of Indian tourists, the pinnacle of the Goan experience is running into their drunk neighbour at an overcrowded beach shack with seizure-inducing lighting. For them, the state’s 105-kilometre coastline is more than enough. But for a growing number of travellers, or those who’ve had their fill of beachrot, inland hotels mark the next vacation frontier. 

In some ways, dozens of private villas operated by management companies across the state offer a convenient compromise. These villas are located inland, but almost always only a short drive to the beach belt. They offer large families or groups of friends the amenities and on-call staff you’d expect at a hotel, minus........

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