Goa awaits 40,000 foreign tourists

UK nationals, contributing 65 per cent, top the list of foreign tourists expected to visit the tiny state this season, said Elvis Gomes, managing director, Goa Tourism Development Corporation.

Tourism officials said that Germans and Russians number second and third respectively followed by Israelis. Of the total 20 lakh tourists visiting Goa annually, 2.5 lakh are foreign tourists, disclosed Gomes.

Immigration figures available at Goa airport said that this week, from Monday to Friday, 6,300 foreign tourists had arrived in the state through 44 chartered flights.

Besides them, many are expected to arrive through different other modes of travel like railway and road and even domestic flights after getting down in Mumbai or Delhi, said an immigration police official posted at Goa airport.

And with the Christmas time being the time to come home, Goans working abroad are also rushing back to their homes.

"Four chartered flights from Gulf countries carrying 666 passengers arrived this week," stated immigration police officials.