Tourist Information

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Overview
Goa' the name is derived from Govearashtra and is the old name for the southern part of Konkan. Nestled between the Sahyadri Ghats to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west, Goa is 64 miles long and 37 miles wide with an area of 1350 square miles. Two rivers divide Goa: Zuari which is 39 miles long and Mandovi which is 36 half miles long. There is a range of mountains called the Western Ghats and the highest is 3827 feet high.

Tourism is so prominent that the number of tourists almost equals the number of state population.

Goa attracts almost 12% of total foreign tourists arriving in India. In terms of direct charters, it is 75% of the total direct charter traffic in India. To give a big fillip to hospitality industry in the state, the Department of Tourism has taken multi-pronged strategy involving both private and government organisations.

Organisations

THE DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM

The Department of Tourism, Government of Goa, is instrumental in planning and providing the basic tourist infrastructure and other tourist Amenities/amenities as well as promoting Goa as a round the year tourist destination by participating in various tourist related events in India and overseas and through tourist publicity literature and other publications. It also exercises control over hotels and travel trade activities through regulatory measures, under the Goa Registration of Tourist Trade Act, 1982

Over the yars, the tourist arrivals into Goa has grown to about 1.2 millions annually almost corresponding to the population of the State.

The Goa Tourism Development Corporation Limited was set up wayback in 1982 for the sole purpose of running commercial activities of the Departmental including accommodation units, sight-seeing tours and cruises for the benefit of tourists in the low and middle income groups who constitute bulk of the tourist traffic to Goa.

THE GOA TOURISM DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (GTDC)

The Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC), set up on 30th March, 1982, looks after the commercial aspects :

ACCOMMODATION: 13 GTDC-run Tourist Hostels with 550 rooms and 1,307 beds.

TRANSPORT: For sightseeing tours by Road Transport, the GTDC has 17 coaches including AC, luxury and mini coaches, with 350 seats. The corporation also runs 1 launch known as Santa Monica, which is very popular for river cruises.

SOUVENIRS: Through Handicrafts Corporation Emporia, the GTDC helps sell of souvenirs like brass items, clay items and shell items, besides items carrying GTDC logo like T-shirts, shorts, candles, books, maps, etc.

PACKAGES: The GTDC has been selling since 1994-1995 complete tour packages through agents in cities like Mumbai, Calcutta, Delhi, etc, which include accommodation, sightseeing, river cruises, gift items, transfers, etc

Acts

Tourism Taxes
Hoteliers, travel trade and tourists have benefited tremendously with the declaration of Tourism as an Industry in Goa. Luxuries provided in a hotel include accommodation and other services / Amenities like air conditioning, telephone, telephone, radio, music, entertainment, extra beds and the like, swimming pool, health club, tennis court, golf course and shopping arcade. The luxury tax is governed by the Goa Tax on Luxuries (Hotels and Lodging Houses) Act, 1988. Cooked food and non-alcoholic drinks served or sold in a hotel attract a sale tax from 4% to 12% subject to the Goa Sales Tax Act, 1964 (the 6th schedule, clause V of sub-section 7).