It’s a Friday night. A very popular
hotspot, a beachside resort, better known for its iconic Friday nights of retro
music, easy and frenzied dancing and banter is getting ready for yet another
pulsating evening. Without argument, all roads not just form Goa but Delhi
Bangalore Bombay and beyond lead to this beach resort with a large bar and
dancing space
It was always ones favorite
local but has become a must go for those who party in high places in the
metros. Most have second or holiday homes and many send large amount of time in
Goa. Similarly a Greek restaurant in Siolim, a Goan eatery in Assagao, a
European fusion dining pace, also in Assagao along with a South Indian coastal
restaurant, gives many the impression that Goa’s food and dining and
party scene is at its peak. ‘But barring some of these spots in Baga, Assagao
and Silolim in the North, the tourism desert has spread over the northern coast
as well as the South.
The reality is this. Aqil Khan, a
taxi driver who has been in the business for more than ten years, said business
was okay and the fares he got were basically to hotels on the beach front in
the north. He said, “It was business as usual; there was no surge in business
that used to happen a couple of years ago. This entire year has been weak,
business wise. Thank god I don’t have to pay for the car anymore, otherwise it
would be a little difficult. I have the liberty to sometimes turn down a fare,
if I am tired. Others can’t.”
Ashish who works at Square Sparrow
a restaurant in Anjuna said business was very slow and this was the case all
over the Anjuna belt.
A similar sentiment was articulated
by Dilip Raj of Karlton’s Horizon Grill who said business was “so so”. He said
“We usually get tourists on weekdays but on these kinds of weekends, they come
over too but that was not the case this time. Thankfully on weekends we have
locals who are regulars so it was ok”.
Perhaps the trick is in the number
of tables in an outlet. Ananth Shirodkar of Escobar based in Assagao said it
was great over the weekend because of the fact he had only five tables and that
he had a discerning clientele who he catered to.
People on holiday usually like to
stay near the beach and avoid staying in a city. Hotels that were contacted
confirmed that business was nothing to crow about. Anand Chatterjee, GM, Planet
Hollywood Beach Resort, said it was all normal traffic and he expected
occupancy to fall from Wednesday. It is quite obvious the joy of Ganpati’s
visit has not resulted in anything substantial for him, business wise. The
hotel at the Kadamba Plateau, The Fern, also witnessed regular business and
nothing really out of the blue. Rajesh Kumar GM, said, “You have to
understand the monsoon was pretty intense this year, there were floods, roads
were blocked and this created panic and I think that has had an effect. In
fact, this year it has been 15% to 20% down over last year during the time of
Ganpati. We had two events cancelled, so you can imagine how it is.”
Parag Jaisingh Patil, GM Operations
at the Novotel Goa Dona Sylvia Resort Hotel, said, “There has been an overall
drop in FIT and group bookings and this time over the Ganpati weekend it was
drop of between 2 and 3% over last year. This week has been sluggish; I hope
next weekend witnesses a rise. Keeping my fingers crossed.”
THE Travel and Tourism Authority of
Goa, in a white paper submitted to the government, in June this year, to boost
tourism, had in its observations and recommendations mentioned the following
-The financial year 2018-19 saw a 50
per cent decline in Russian charter flights and 62,000 lesser Russian tourists
in 2018-19 as compared to 2017-18.
– In 2017-18, airport arrival and
departure figures saw a decline of more than 21 per cent, it states adding that
“while domestic tourism has seen an upswing of 25 per cent to 30 per cent,
the appreciable drop in average room rates and occupancies across Goa,
indicates a fall in the quality of domestic tourism.”
There was a sharp drop in the number of charter flights which arrived in Goa
from 1,128 in 2013 to 840 now.
– Government was asked to drop
visa fees, rationalise tax to make tourism products cheaper, the association
said.
– There was a need to revive glory
days of charter tourism by incentivising operators.
Savio Messias of TTAG said “I
heard from various people across the state that there was good business coming
in. I witnessed massive traffic jams on Saturday and Sunday near the airport.
It only means more taxis to transport the passengers to their various holiday
spots.”
Well, perhaps reality is somewhere
in the middle with tourists coming in but not in the numbers that Goa used to
attract once upon a time. And yes, the poor sentiments in the economy did not
help too.
