PANJIM: The new season commenced on October 3 when the first charter flight landed at the Dabolim airport after taking off from far off Kiev in troubled Ukraine. This may however in hindsight be the only bright spot in what will otherwise been a very disappointing season so far for the state.
It must however also be noted that the views on the season so far varies drastically from the government to the operators in the tourism industry.
Ameya Abhyankar, Director of Department of Tourism in a statement to a questionnaire sent by the Herald claimed the tourism season was excellent till date and Goa tourism was geared up for the month of December 2014 and January 2015 which will be the busiest time of the year.
Thousands, he said were thronging to Goa for the on-going SFX Exposition, Christmas, New Year and the lineup of events scheduled during the next couple of weeks.
Asked about specific numbers he said “International tourists have come via charters and as FITs. In October this year, 91 charter flights landed in Goa. A total of 71 flights were from Russia bringing in 14,318 passengers, and 20 flights from Ukraine bringing in 1,069 passengers. A total of 43,956 foreign tourists visited Goa in October 2014”.
With regards to charter flights so far, he revealed that as on November 23, 2014 a total of 236 charter flights had landed in Goa bringing in 44,116 passengers. As on November 23, 2014, 15 charters have come from UK with 3,990 passengers, 184 from Russia with 37,429 passengers, 3 from Kazakhstan with 694 passengers, 34 from Ukraine with 2003 passengers. With regards to domestic tourists he claimed that as on October, Goa recorded 4,32,905 domestic tourists. Data for the month of November was still under process. With regards to the on-going Exposition as many as 50 lakh pilgrims/tourists are expected to visit Goa.
However the President of TTAG Francisco de Branganca did not seem to be marching to the same drum beat. He said “This year the international tourist season does not look good at all. It is expected to be about 30% lower than the last year. One can see on the ground in the tourism coastal belts of Candolim, Calangute and Baga, where the beach, restaurants and beach beds are empty and the water sports boats are idling in the sea. The hotel occupancies this year are down by as much.”
A sentiment shared by restaurateurs and hoteliers in Baga and in Calangute. The manager of Baia Do Sol a 21 room property said “It is now a issue of survival. We are empty and till yesterday I had one room occupied. Today all empty. Now on the strip people are undercutting each other to attract whatever little business is coming their way.”
Francis the manager at St Anthony’s restaurant said “Where are the foreigners, look around you. I have survived because of the domestic tourist but they come only during the weekend. This Christmas and New Year will be bad”.
An operator at Baga said “This season is gone, Christmas and New Year and after that nothing. I can pack my bags and go home after that for sure”.
Gautam Das Gupta, GM at O hotel saying the season was bad with even the Indians not really having come in the numbers as expected. He said “The rest of this month looks bad” A sentiment shared by other hoteliers who did not want to be named.
Perhaps the last word should go to Donovan of Firefly, a popular restaurant who said that even though he did not depend on tourists for his business, it was obvious that the numbers were dramatically down and that this season would be bad or a lot of people.
