20 Oct 2021  |   04:14am IST

This is just not welcome

The cost of petrol and diesel is increasing everyday impacting industries everywhere. In Goa this could have a dramatic effect on the hospitality industry as well as the taxi industry which can be affected directly. People in the hospitality and taxi industry had much to say

Ajit John;

The price of fuel is increasing

every day. Not a development that would be welcomed by anyone. For businesses dealing with demand which has still not picked pace, this is just not good news. For the hospitality industry this is just not great news. Yes, the domestic tourist is coming in droves and staying in hotels that dot the landscape. But that does not mean there could be problems ahead.

Savio Messias said with the rates for taxis having been fixed it would not be surprising for taxi drivers to ask for an increase in the rates. Speaking about the hotels, he said an increase in the cost of services provided would be a distinct possibility. He said “The cost of fuel means everything will increase. Running costs have increased. Hotels will have to increase their rates. Please remember hotels run on generators for forty percent of the day and night. In Calangute, generators are switched on at 7oclock in the evening in hotels. Power is just not enough. They have to spend so much for the generator. At one point in time we were meeting with the power minister every three month. He was very helpful but the situation is still bad and now this.” He went on to say that fisherwomen were talking about increasing prices. This he said would affect the entire country. He argued that earlier everyone was working from home and so the price increase did not hurt so much but now with everyone slowly going back to their old routines, it would really hurt. He expected airlines to increase their rates which could have an effect on the business.

Serafin Cotta who heads the association of medium and small hotels said the rise in fuel prices would not affect rack rates but it would surely affect the cost of services in the hotel. He said “Food and beverages will go up. They are all transported to the hotel and the supplier no doubt will increase the cost. This will have to be passed on to the customer. I believe we can expect an increase of about fifteen percent in cost. I also expect restaurants to increase their prices.

The manager of a restaurant in Panjim who was not authorised to speak said the management was already considering hiking the price of certain dishes because it was increasingly getting difficult to manage costs with suppliers already having hiked costs.

Another important category that has already been affected is taxi drivers. Levi Fernandes who drives a taxi said guests were just not willing to pay the rates and would negotiate very hard. He said “They keep demanding a discount. For a small car we used to charge Rs 3500 and we would now like to increase it by Rs 500. And if they hire a big car it would be Rs 5000 which is an increase of Rs 500”. He said this would be the rate from Cavelossim to Fort Aguada, Calangute and Baga or simply put for eight hours. He said customers would sometimes agree to pay Rs 100-200 more and nothing else. He said tourists were hiring bikes and cars which was not helping matters. The government he said was keen on regulating the taxi service but was just not talking about the increase in fuel costs. He said sometimes he would be lucky to get a fare in a day or two in a week.

Another feature of the state’s transport system was the pilot. Manuel Fernandes who has been a pilot for twenty years said it was getting very difficult to survive considering the fact he had a son in college. He said “The cost of starting my bike has certainly increased. I have had certain clients for a couple of years and it is a little difficult to ask them for a dramatic increase in the rates. New customers negotiate, especially the domestic tourist. It is not easy being in this business”.

It is obvious it is not easy with these increases in costs. It remains to be seen how far the price will continue to increase causing more hardship to everyone around.