The
restaurant and even the hotel business in Goa, is staring at hard practical
realities notwithstanding to what extent Goa is opening its doors to tourists
and tourism. With more than half the labour force, linked to tourism out of
Goa, mid-level resort, hotels and restaurants are unable to open. This is yet
another indication of how the outside force was propping up the service side of
Goa’s tourism business. And the reality is that the “outsiders’ to left in
those shramik trains are not back and may not for a while
Across
South and North Goa, restaurant and hotel owners, barring the bigger five start
resorts are playing safe than being sorry. Rahul Thapa of Para Picar in
Benaulim said he was closed for the next two months because his staff had gone
home because of the monsoons and the virus. A restaurant owner who did not want
to be named shut her business because the virus had resulted in business
dropping dramatically and the staff decided to leave for home where they felt
it was safer. Another restauranteur perhaps summed it up best when he
said the long weekends or the festivals would not mean much to them if the fear
of the virus did not subside and that the felt would only happen if a cure was
found for it. It remains to be seen, who will survive this slump in business.
Interestingly,
the hitherto busy Independence Day week which saw a surge in bookings in the
idle of the monsoon slump isn’t exciting hotel owners.
Guitry
Velho, GM Heritage Resort Spa was candid when he said there was no demand for
hotels rooms in Goa. He said “We are not moving ahead with our marketing
initiative, the situation on the ground is such that many hotels are just
touching double digits. I don’t foresee any increase in demand during the
independence weekend. No one is coming to Goa with all the cases
increasing. Everything as slowed down”.
Another
GM of a resort in Goa, who did not want to be named said the business was
barely ten per cent and he did not foresee an increase in demand for a while.
He said he was worried about the international business because he was
scheduled to welcome the international tourists from November. Tourism, he said
was a very sensitive industry dependent on the economy, the flow of the people
and sentiment. He went on to say that several hotels that had opened after the
tourism minister decided to allow hotels to restart, we now shutting down
because business was so poor. He said “It makes no sense to have four or five
rooms open, you can never break even. I had a few bookings for the weekend and
they cancelled”. He then predicted that if business continued this way, many
hotels would shut and come up for sale. The virus, he said was eating the mall
from the inside. Scary but could be true.
Another
popular outlet called Pousada by the Beach was not open. Neville Proenca said,
he had no plans and smiled when asked about the Independence Day weekend. He
said “Now with the virus around, it is of no use because no one is coming. You
have to understand our clients come from COVID hotspots like Mumbai and Delhi.
I have no idea when the situation will improve.”
Sivam
Sarma AVP of Royal Orchid Beach Resort & Spa basically said he had enough
staff to handle the load now and would have to augment his staff if bookings
increased. “I have thirty per cent of the staff in place to handle the seven to
eight guests the hotel is entertaining per day which fine for the demand at
present. I expect a rise in the number of bookings over the weekend to increase
to 15-20 and I can get the staff to handle that size of clientele in a short
frame of time”. That’s a rare sign of optimism.
Many
restaurants in Goa are also skirting on the edge.
Jamshed
Madon of J & A Royal Enfield Garage Café said business was not bad and yes
weekends were busier because he had started a brunch package which was quite
popular. But it was not what it was earlier but he was hanging in there.
The
big boys are opening up though, drawing on the strength of their permanent
staff. In a statement Vincent Ramos, Area Director – IHCL, Goa and General
Manager – Taj Hotel & Convention Centre, Goa said in a statement “Our
restaurants have also started to open in a phased manner with currently one
restaurant operational at each hotel. With most of the destinations
overseas restricted for travel, we have seen a rise in domestic demand for
local key markets including Goa, given that we are a matured leisure
destination with high-quality hospitality offerings that match international
travel standards. In addition, last month we have had guests staying with us
travelled via private jets and chartered planes.”
But
for those who cannot fly on private jet plane for their Goa holiday, or
prefer eating locally or staying at home-stays and smaller hotels, they
will have to wait for those who left on those trains- the waiters, cleaners,
housekeeping staff and the cooks, to come back.
