Goa is a much loved getaway for people
across the country and an extended weekend makes for a perfect excuse to head
to Goa. This weekend, around the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti on October 2, 2015,
Goa is expecting yet another influx of tourists, wth this being the third
consecutive long weekend in the month, and the tourism industry is beaming as
business is doing great.
Aziz Lalani, CEO at Azzure, Calangute, is
happy with the response towards the weekends. “The past two weekends have been
good and the charter flights will be arriving soon. We have changed our
strategy a bit for this season by lowering our prices to accommodate domestic
tourists. During these long weekends, we usually receive around 99 per cent
domestic tourists and one per cent international tourists.”
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Marius Monteiro, the owner of Cavala in
Baga, is happy with the flow of tourists throughout the season. “There have
been sufficient tourists coming in over the past few months. The only time we
saw a smaller crowd was when the airport runway was under renovation. After
that, the season picked up. The long weekends bring in a pretty good crowd as
they get to spend more time in Goa. It is not an alarming situation with the
tourist season and I have nothing to complain about,” says Marius.
A water park that set a benchmark for water
activities away from the beach is the Splashdown Goa Waterpark along the
Calangute-Anjuna Main Road. Created by marine engineers Melroy Pinto and
Levancio D’Souza, Splashdown has seen the number of visitors increase over the
weekend. “Last weekend was very good as we experienced a crowd similar to peak
season. It was a pleasant and rousing change from the usual monsoon slumber. We
were on our toes during the busy weekend and we are hopeful about the upcoming
weekend as well,” says Melroy.
With a host of features that appeal to all
ages, the water park offers day-long excitement for family and friends. Keeping
the thrills aside, one reassuring factor for parents is that the pools are safe
for children. “We receive a lot of phone calls before people come in to spend
time in the park. According to that we estimate the crowd. As the park is along
the main road, people usually come in either early in the day or in the
evening, which creates a continuous flow of tourists. Though the park can
accommodate up to 800 people, we are not overcrowded at any point of time,”
says Melroy, adding that he is expecting more international tourists coming in
this weekend, via the new charters.
