Goa
which was liberated on 19th December, 1961 alongwhh Daman and Diu
from 451 years Portuguese Colonial Rule, became the 25th State of
the Indian Union when it was conferred Statehood on 30th May, 1987.
Although, Goa joined national mainstream only after 14-years of the country's
independence, tourist traffic to Goa registered such phenomenal growth that
from 2.00 lakhs tourists in 1975 the figure has shot up to 11.26 lakhs in 1996
of which domestic tourists comprise 8.88 lakhs and foreigners account for 2.37
lakhs including almost 73,000 through charter flights from U.K. Germany. Switzerland,
Finland.
As
on today, the total bed capacity stands at 21,000 beds, of which the public
sector account for 10% with the rest in the private sector. With the projected
rise in tourist traffic to 14 lakhs by the turn of century, the bed capacity
would require further augmentation of at least 20 thousand.