It was a day that is usually a marker for the season. December 25
came and went and the tourism industry was left with mixed feelings. Of course
for hotels like the TAJ though it was a great season. Vincent Ramos Senior Vice
President Goa said it was the best season ever. Ramos said “We have never done
such business since we started doing business all those years ago in Goa. This
was the best ever. All the properties, bungalows were all sold out. Both the
Vivantas were sold out. We expect a similar response for the New Year. All the
hotels are at ninety percent and we expect them to be sold out in the next two
days. The crowds are largely domestic but we also have a good mix of foreigners
from the UK, Germany who have been coming over to Goa for several years.” Now
that may be an aberration because for the rest of the industry it was a mixed
bag.
Romol D’Silva the man behind Sun Village Resorts in Arpora said
business was not as he expected. D’Silva said “We had to reduce rates. We
expected an uptake in inbound traffic but that did not happen. Other countries
like Turkey, UK are attracting Indian tourists; Thailand is also doing a very
good job. We were at sixty five percent capacity and we expected much more and
now are hoping for some good business for the year end celebrations. Due to the
average business we cancelled the dinner for the New Year. Bookings have
increased and I am hoping for the best.”
A senior member of the hospitality industry said customers had
become very sensitive about pricing. He said some customers had called the
police after they learned the outlet they were checking in had picked up
business by quoting rates that were lower than what was given to them. When
they demanded similar rates and were refused, they called the police. The
customer, the hotelier who was recounting the incident said was now very pushy
when it came to rate negotiations. A man who should know a bit about this is
Seraffin Cotta who heads the association for medium and small hotels said
occupancy in his outlet and others like his were at fifty percent and some
reaching a maximum of seventy percent. He said “Customers are very demanding.
Rooms are available and there are not many customers. I foresee a similar trend
for the New Year celebrations. A large number of single young men are coming
into Goa and are staying all over the place. Not in hotels for sure. Even shack
owners are complaining over poor business. The situation is not good.”
Business
needs to improve for everyone in the hospitality industry to be happy. One can
only hope come the New Year, everyone in the industry will be smiling.
