The New Year is just around the corner. The crowds are coming in large numbers from all the
country. This has been also motivated by the fact that Goa has not imposed any
restrictions to fight the Omicron variant. Now with all the crowds coming in
what are the hotels both and big and small doing to ensure the guests are safe
and the numbers in the state remain low.
Savio Messias a
hotelier said the government had issued a circular for international tourists
coming to the state which had to be followed by them. It highlighted the
importance of checking them, asking for the RTPCR test results and also
basically being cautious and alert. Savio said “This is all very good but one
is forced to ask if the country was serious about tackling this variant with
political parties imposing curfew at night but organising rallies during the
day. If a curfew is imposed it will be hell for the industry. Everyone has to
do their bit and exercise caution”. He however went on to say that there was no
caution being exercised by the general public with beaches being crowded and no
one wearing masks. That he felt was a recipe for disaster.
Nilesh Shah, President of TTAG said business was good and this
was due to all the booking that was done in advance. He said the hotels in Goa
were certainly doing their bit by reminding guests to wear masks and use
sanitizers. The industry he said was insisting that the regulations be
followed. Overall he said the industry had learned to conduct business in the
times of Omicron. He said “Almost everyone in the industry is double vaccinated
and everyone wears masks. The people working in small and big restaurants
follow the regulations and wear masks. We insist on the guests following the
regulations. We cannot afford to have another lockdown.”
For Serrafin Cotta who as head of the small and medium hotels
association has been facing a tough time said at the moment they were all on
their own. He said “We are small operators and we have to do everything to stay
in business. We ask all our guests for certificates to show they are
vaccinated. We ask if they are experiencing a fever. Yes we also insist on
sanitizing. We are doing our bit”. When asked how business was he said it was
not good nor was it bad. It was ok but that was it. He did not foresee any
business being conducted once the parties for the New Year were done and
dusted. He said “There are no bookings coming in after the January 5. People
are worried about this variant. The hotels and the beaches will be empty after
that. Apart from the Kazakhs no one will be here in substantial numbers and the
old problems will come to the fore.”
Padma Nair an hotelier was more to the point when he said the
situation was pathetic. He said nothing was being done to help hoteliers like
him. He said “We do whatever is required in the hotel. We have sanitizers, our
staff wears masks while serving guests but we have no control what they do
outside the hotel”. He bemoaned the fact there was no enforcement of the rules
that were put in place to tackle the virus and this could be problematic.
A hotelier who did not want to come on record said big hotels
were enforcing the rules and made it a point to ensure their guests followed
the rules. It was easier because a majority of the guests usually preferred to
stay in the facility which provided with facilities to keep themselves
entertained. That was not the case with small and medium hotels which were
usually bases for visitors to sleepover at night. The rest of the day was
usually spent walking around on the beach thus exposing them to the possibility
of contracting the virus. He hoped everything moved along fine without any
untoward incident.
That
could be the wish of every member of the hospitality industry and one can only
hopes it all works out for the best.
