PANJIM: After months of struggling, the tourism industry is beginning to see better days, as tourists have returned to the State and locals are also beginning to frequent restaurants. Stakeholders concede that the movement is not as high as it was earlier, but the gloomy days of the pandemic are beginning to get more cheerful, as new cases hover around a 100 a day.
The turnaround is visible in the coastal belt as well as in restaurants in the cities that have opened for business. Tables that would in the past weeks go empty are now getting filled. What’s striking is that though the Goan population has become choosy on where they dine, there is a large demand for takeaways and home deliveries that provide good business to restaurants.
The restaurants, Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) president Nilesh Shah said, may have fewer locals, but they are still customers as they opt for takeaways or home deliveries. However, tourists are filling the vacuum in the restaurants.
President of the All Goa Hoteliers Association Gaurish Dhond was of the same opinion. “COVID-19 is here to stay (until arrival of vaccination). People have accepted it. Not all the restaurants and hotels are open but nevertheless business is growing. Something is better than nothing,” he said.
Shack Owners Welfare Society president Cruz Cardozo also said they get visitors, especially during the weekend.
With new COVID-19 cases now dropping, the change in the attitude is clearly visible. Shah is of the opinion that the situation is improving but there still is a long way to go.
“The frequency of flights has slightly improved. Average occupancy in each flight is about 60-70 per cent which is good in the present time, although it was 95-98 per cent in the past during this period of the year. Moreover, around 55 flights are flying daily, though it was 80 previously,” Shah told Herald.
With the Christmas to New Year week approaching, stakeholders are hopeful of a good year-end and remind the Centre and State of their request to start international flights. In the absence of the foreign tourist, Goa has welcomed domestic tourists, who otherwise too throng Goa in large numbers. Notwithstanding the pandemic fear, Goa is recording an impressive response from Indian travellers.
Insisting that tourists should follow SOPs laid down by the government for their own safety and that of the Goan population, Shah stated that these are important until the vaccination.
“Tourism industry has survived for nine months, so for another six or seven months, till there is a vaccination to fight COVID-19, we have to follow all the protocols. This is applicable to the tourists as well,” he said claiming that stakeholders are working hard to survive and revive tourism.
Several started hotels have offered attractive vacation packages for the tourists, an attempt to attract guests in the time of pandemic.
