PANJIM: The 2015-16 tourist season could be another tough one if reports emanating from Berlin are anything to go by. Tour operators present at the recently held ITB fair believe the good times would take awhile to come around but expressed the hope that given time tourists from new markets would visit in numbers. According to a tour operator due to the general state of the economy there was a tendency in Europe for people to travel within the EU.
Anthony Pereira of Alpha Holidays felt the ITB trade fair was not as busy as was usually the case in years gone by. The interest in Goa he said was always there and the news that visa on arrival was now available was a boost.
However, he said that the details were not available to everyone since what India means by visa on arrival is entirely different from what it means in other parts of the world. With the slowdown in the Russian market due to political reasons he said that other parts of the Europe were now being looked very aggressively. Interest he said was shown by parties based in Poland, Croatia, Portugal to name a few countries.
Another participant at the trade show Carlos D’Souza of D’Souza Group said the presence of the Goa contingent was not strong enough. Elaborating he said “There were just four representatives of the Goa tourism industry apart from the state dept tourism officials. One had to only look at Sri Lanka which was crowded from the first hour of the fair to the very end. They had government officials along with a large number of trade representatives who handled all the queries of which I can say was a lot.”
He added that the queries that came to the Goa stand were ok and did not point to good tidings for the near future. He said “Let us be honest, it will take a while before Goa plays host to those numbers we all saw a couple of years ago.”
The move to look at new markets in Europe would take awhile to bear fruit and people will have to wait he added.
Amkur Rustogi from Alila Diwa felt this year was better than the last when there was a negative perception about India in Europe due to the various rapes. This year however the commencement of various flights to Goa was a big help. He said “Oman air, Air Arabia, Etihad and with Qatar Airways now flying changes the dynamics. In addition it will bring down ticket prices. People are beginning to look at Goa again with interest. These flights change the cost dynamics completely and I expect the crowds to return to Goa soon.”
For the average Joe’s and Rita’s who work in the tourism industry that may be some welcome news as they will all hope the poor international inflow of tourists last season was a bad dream.
There were just four representatives of the Goa tourism industry apart from the state dept tourism officials. One had to only look at Sri Lanka which was crowded from the first hour of the fair to the very end. They had government officials along with a large number of trade representatives who handled all the queries of which I can say was a lot
Carlos D’Souza
