PANAJI: Goa continues to be a popular holiday destination in the country, with the 5th biennial Hotelivate State Ranking Survey for tourism ranking it among the top five states.

Conducted in collaboration with the World Travel & Tourism Council-India Initiative (WTTC-II), the survey has ranked Delhi and Maharashtra as the top two places, followed by Goa, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.

The states were categorised based on 11 parameters namely: state expenditure on tourism, number of tourist visits, number of branded hotel rooms, GSDP per capital, literacy, aircraft movement, ease of doing business, urbanization, road and rail network, marketing campaigns and some intangible aspects.

In the report, Goa is placed among the top three positions in four parameters: state expenditure on tourism, presence of branded hotel rooms, GSDP per capita and urbanization. It also states that Goa has the second-highest density of branded hotel rooms in India, and has consistently been maintaining its rank over the last four surveys.

Both these aspects highlight Goa’s attractiveness as a tourist destination from the perspective of tourists, hoteliers and the government alike.

Unlike Delhi or Haryana, Goa’s branded hotel room supply showed a growth by 14% since the last edition of this report. This is an indication of the lucrative nature of the market for the hotel industry, the survey stated.