The past few months, social media and living rooms have been full of chatter about Goa losing favour with even the most devoted fan of India’s most favoured holiday spot. It is too expensive, lacks infrastructure and cheap public transport and has now abandoned its hippie charm for hyper commercial and cheesy entertainment. Think belly dancers and fire eaters.
But Airbnb is now launching Goa Unseen, a guidebook that takes travellers beyond the obvious, they say. Through the book, they have worked with a group of insiders and residents now, including actor Abhay Deol (who has made Goa his home since 2017), Nolan Mascarenhas, Avinash Martins, Siddharth Kekar, Insia Lacewala, Garv Vohra, and Scarlett Rose. These insiders have shared their picks of the state—including lesser-known neighbourhoods.
The Goa Unseen guidebook was launched on Wednesday evening at Sadhana Dell ‘Arte in the presence of Rohan Khaunte, minister for tourism, Government of Goa; Amanpreet Singh Bajaj, Airbnb’s country head for India and Southeast Asia; and Abhay Deol. It’s also an initiative that says Airbnb and the Goa Tourism Department are collaboratively working to boost Goa’s tourism economy.
In 2022, Airbnb signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Department of Tourism, Government of Goa, to jointly promote Goa as one of the most sought-after destinations. “Goa is the largest destination for international travellers in India for us. We have also seen a surge in GenZ travellers,” said Bajaj. “This guidebook is to make sure travellers go beyond the usual places.” Deol, who has built a house in Goa, said, “We all know about the bars, parties and beaches. But it’s also about meditation, healers… people who come here for wellness. That’s the side we want to bring out.”
“I didn’t even know Abhay lived here,” said Khaute. “People are saying there is nobody in Goa—but everything is full here. This is a paid story trying to say Goa isn’t doing well. We didn’t react. We went and found numbers—we have found overall growth of 21 per cent. We are very secular and inclusive and celebrate all festivals. We will even have a mud festival soon—much like the Tomatina festival that Abhay played in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara,” he added.
He also said, coasts get sold out, but we need the rural areas of Goa to also get discovered. “We need the right people to come see the right places and discover the right things. We will also put in place more infrastructure. We want to inspire Gen Z and Gen Alpha to travel here, and especially single women should be inspired to come here. We will give safety to them,” Khaunte said.
