Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity only", as people "travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure and not less than 24 hours, business and other purposes". Tourism can be domestic or international, and international tourism has both incoming and outgoing implications on a country's balance of payments.
Tourism in India is 4.6% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). Unlike other sectors, tourism is not a priority sector for the Government of India. Forbes magazine ranked India as the 7th most beautiful country in 'The 50 Most Beautiful Countries In The World' rankings. The World Travel and Tourism Council calculated that tourism generated ₹13.2 lakh crore (US$160 billion) or 5.8% of India's GDP and supported 32.1 million jobs in 2021. Even though, these numbers were lower than the pre-pandemic figures; the country's economy witnessed a significant growth in 2021 after the massive downturn during 2020. The sector is predicted to grow at an annual rate of 7.8% to ₹33.8 lakh crore (US$400 billion) by 2031. India has established itself as the 5th largest global travel healthcare destination with an estimated market size of around $9 billion in 2019, out of the total global travel healthcare industry of $44.8 billion(2019). In 2014, 184,298 foreign patients travelled to India to seek medical treatment.
The history of Goa dates back to prehistoric times, though the present-day state of Goa was only established as recently as 1987. In spite of being India's smallest state by area, Goa's rich history is both long and diverse. It shares a lot of similarities with Indian history, especially with regard to colonial influences and a multi-cultural aesthetic.
Christianity is India's third-largest religion with about 26 million adherents, making up 2.3 percent of the population as of the 2011 census. The written records of Saint Thomas Christians mention that Christianity was introduced to the Indian subcontinent by Thomas the Apostle, who sailed to the Malabar region in 52 AD.
Western India is a loosely defined region of India consisting of western states of Republic of India. The Ministry of Home Affairs in its Western Zonal Council Administrative division includes the states of Goa, Gujarat, and Maharashtra along with the Union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, while the Ministry of Culture and some historians also include the state of Rajasthan. The Geological Survey of India includes Maharashtra but excludes Rajasthan whereas Ministry of Minority Affairs includes Karnataka but excludes Rajasthan.
Benaulim (Bannalem) is a village in the state of Goa, India. Located in Salcete taluka of South Goa district, it neighbours Colva village to the north, Margao in the northeast and Varca village to the south. During Portuguese rule, it was one of the nine communidades in Salcete. Benaulim is the birthplace of St Joseph Vaz, who was a priest and missionary in Sri Lanka. Benaulim is home to several traditional carpenters, and has long been known as Goa's 'village of carpenters'. Contemporary Benaulim is a popular seaside resort, renowned for its beautiful rice fields, balmy weather and golden sand beaches. It also houses Goa's only Don Bosco Animation Centre. There are two big churches in Benaulim. The Holy Trinity Church in Mazilvaddo is a modern church built over the centuries-old chapel of the Loiola Pereira family. The St John the Baptist Church in Povacao area closer to Colva, is where St Joseph Vaz was baptised.
Anjuna is a village located on the coast of North Goa, India. It is a Census Town, one of the twelve Brahmin comunidades of Bardez. It is mostly a tourist destination.
Goan Catholics are an ethno-religious community of Indian Christians adhering to the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church from the Goa state, in the southern part of the Konkan region along the west coast of India. They are Konkani people and speak the Konkani language.
Goans is the demonym used to describe the people native to Goa, India, who form an ethno-linguistic group resulting from the assimilation of Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Indo-Portuguese, Austro-Asiatic ethnic and/or linguistic ancestries. They speak different dialects of the Konkani language, collectively known as Goan Konkani. "Goanese", although sometimes used, is an incorrect term for Goans.
Dona Paula is a neighborhood and tourist destination in the city of Panaji, Goa, India. It is today home to the National Institute of Oceanography and the International Centre Goa.
Religious tourism, spiritual tourism, sacred tourism, or faith tourism, is a type of tourism with two main subtypes: pilgrimage, meaning travel for religious or spiritual purposes, and the viewing of religious monuments and artefacts, a branch of sightseeing.
The state of Goa, in India, is famous for its beaches and places of worship. Tourism is its primary industry, and is generally focused on the coastal areas of Goa, with decreased tourist activity inland.
Fontainhas is an old Latin Quarter in Panjim, capital city of the state of Goa, India. It maintains its Portuguese influence, particularly through its architecture, which includes narrow and picturesque winding streets like those found in many European cities, old villas and buildings with projecting balconies painted in the traditional tones of pale yellow, green, or blue, and roofs made of red coloured tiles. Fontainhas' heritage ambience represents the traditional Portuguese influence in the area.
Goa State Museum, also known as the State Archaeology Museum, Panaji, is a museum in Goa, India. Established in 1977, it contains departments including Ancient History and Archaeology, Art and Craft, and Geology. The museum, as of 2008, had about 8,000 artifacts on display, including stone sculptures, wooden objects, carvings, bronzes, paintings, manuscripts, rare coins, and anthropological objects. Currently, the Museum is located at the Adil Shah's Palace in Panaji. The Museum's erstwhile premises at the EDC Complex in Patto, Panaji shall be demolished to make way for a new Museum building.
The St. Paul’s Church, is situated on Diu Island, on the west coast of India, a Union Territory of India. Diu came under the control of Portuguese colonists in early 16th century.
The Diu Fortress is a Portuguese-built fortification located on the west coast of India in Diu. The fortress was built as part of Portuguese India's defensive fortifications at the eastern tip of the island of Diu during the 16th century. The fortress, which borders on the town of Diu, was built in 1535 subsequent to a defense alliance forged by Bahadur Shah, the Sultan of Gujarat and the Portuguese when Humayun, the Mughal Emperor attempted to annex this territory. It was strengthened over the years, till 1546. The Portuguese ruled over this territory from 1537 until the Indian invasion of December 1961. Today it is a landmark of Diu and one of the Seven Wonders of Portuguese Origin in the World.
Fort Santíssima Trindade also known as Fort Tiracol, is a Portuguese era fort near the village of Tiracol, in the North Goa district of Goa, India. At the mouth of the Terekhol River, the fort can be reached by a ferry from Querim, 42 km (26 mi) north of Panaji.
Luís de Menezes Bragança, alternatively spelled as Luís de Menezes Braganza, was a prominent Goan journalist, writer, politician and anti-colonial activist. He was one of the few Goan aristocrats who actively opposed the Portuguese colonisation of Goa. During his lifetime, Menezes Bragança was widely hailed around the Lusosphere as "O Maior de todos" and in the Indian mainland as "The Tilak of Goa".
The Goan Muslims are a minority community who follow Islam in the Indian coastal state of Goa, some are also present in the union territory of Damaon, Diu & Silvassa. They are native to Goa, unlike recent Muslim migrants from mainland India and are commonly referred to as Moir by Goans in Goan Konkani.[a]Moir is derived from the Portuguese word Mouro. The Portuguese called them Mouros because they were in contact with the Moors, people of predominantly Muslim Maghreb country, who had conquered and colonised the Iberian peninsula for centuries.
Goa is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the east and south, with the Arabian Sea in the west. It is India's smallest state by area and fourth-smallest by population. Goa has the highest GDP per capita among all Indian states, two and a half times as high as the GDP per capita of the country as a whole. The Eleventh Finance Commission of India named Goa the best-placed state because of its infrastructure, and India's National Commission on Population rated it as having the best quality of life in India. It is the second-highest ranking among Indian states in the human development index.
