International airlines have been showing interest in bringing tourists directly from Australia, Europe and other countries to Goa.International airlines like Condor, Emirates, British Midlands, Gulf Air and Sri Lankan Airlines have shown interest in acquiring landing facilities in Goa. "The open skies policy would see a tremendous increase of direct flights to the state," Wilfred de Souza, state's tourism minister and also the deputy chief minister, said.Goa is considered one of the most favourite holiday destinations in the world, and the demand for direct (without a stopover in Mumbai) chartered flights to Goa has been increasing each year. From 419 chartered flights in 2000-01, it has shot up to 753 during this season.The arrival of chartered tourists is expected to show a significant growth with the number of tourists per flight going up considerably in the last couple of years. From 1.16 lakh in 2000-01, the number of chartered tourist arrival has crossed over 5 lakh.Goa has also witnessed a major growth in tourist arrivals last year with a record 24.50 lakh tourists visiting the state.While domestic tourist arrivals went up to 20.85 lakh (a rise of 20%) in 2004-05 from 17.25 lakh in 2003-04, the foreign tourist segment witnessed a 15.5% growth during the corresponding period with the arrivals going up from 3.14 lakh to 3.63 lakh.
