PANJIM: The numbers may be increasing every year and the authorities may continue to claim that Goa remains a favorite destination across the world. However the signs don’t really look that good when one scratches the surface. Charter operators have expressed their concern over rising prices and believe that in five years they may no longer be in business.
According to provincial data provided by the tourism authorities 4,92,322 foreign tourists visited the state in 2013 an increase over the previous year when over 4,50,530 foreign tourists visited the state.
However according to some of the biggest charter operators their role in this business is gradually diminishing and could have some interesting ramifications for the state. Bobby Atre, Head of Caspar India a charter operator said that the business in Goa is dominated by one emotion, greed.
He said “Numbers are increasing every year but one has to remember the kind of tourist who comes to Goa. They are the budget tourists who come to Goa and stay in two, three and four star hotels. Now the problem is the tariffs of these hotels are increasing not by 10 or 15% a year but by leaps and bounds. I mean sometimes over 50% and I am not exaggerating.”
The five star hotels he said were not really dependent on the really cheap charter tourists. The lower star hotels depended on volumes but were also not willing to keep the price low. They, he said had not noticed that other destinations had emerged with better facilities and were willing to be cheaper than Goa. Asked which new destination was now the favorite and he replied that Vietnam was now very popular. That country, he said was reaping the advantage of being beautiful, having culture and priced very cheap. He said tourism in that country was growing at an explosive pace and many of the tourists who were earlier coming to Goa were now moving there. The British he said who earlier came in large numbers were now moving over there.
Pamela Mascarenhas, Deputy Director, DOT replying to a questionnaire sent by the Herald expressed her confidence that the next five years would be exciting and would pose a huge challenge for Goa tourism particularly in attracting foreign tourists. With tourism now declared a top priority area by the Central Government and with Goa airport now able to issue visas on arrival and pre approved electronic visas for guests from over 180 countries it would be beneficial. She however expressed her concern that in the light of expected slowdown in traditional markets of Russia due to Ukraine crisis and sanctions imposed by the European Union and USA on Russia, there was the possibility of a decline in Russian arrivals.
She said “UK charters have decided to reduce their frequency. In view of the current socio-economic conditions, the key source markets for Goa are undergoing constant re-evaluation. Based on research done by our Marketing and Brand Consultants Chlorophyll and based on inputs from Goan tourism trade members, Goa Tourism has divided the source markets (Europe, North America, SE and Far East Asia, Australia) into clusters where a two pronged strategy is being meticulously planned.”
A strategy for Realignment Markets where Goa is already well known and which have a large number of tourists coming to Goa and then trying to attract affluent tourists from these markets was a function of infrastructure development. Goa’s clear differentiator she said is its diversity which is expected to attract higher yields per tourist.
With regards to creating awareness in new markets given the paucity of funds it would be wise to target them selectively and ensure that these efforts would be executed properly. According to her realignment markets for Goa were Russia, UK, France, Germany, Finland, Switzerland, Sweden. Places where awareness was important were Italy, Australia, US, Canada, Japan and China. Goa had according to her received 5 lakh foreign tourists and hoped to double that number in the next five years.
Another major tour operator based in Goa who did not want to be named due to the sensitive nature of the topic said that he agreed with the assessment of Bobby Atre. He said “let’s be honest I am Goan and I can say this, beaches here are pretty bad. The number of Russians has increased and this has ensured that the Germans will not return in the numbers of a few years earlier. The English have made their contacts in the local community and are now contacting people online and making their arrangements. Home stays is increasing in the state and for us the monies were anyway not really all that great.”
Asked what the budgets were like he said at the lower end it was $15 and at the upper end $300. Asked how he made his money he said “We do not make any money in the lower end, they are called seat fillers and we earn our money in the higher bracket.” The problem he said was that the higher end tourists were not coming in the numbers as in the past. The Internet he said was a great leveller and was putting operators like him out of business. Ten years ago he said there were approximately 15 charter operators in the state but today there were just 10 with the local charter operators driven out because they could not compete. He said his company would have to find another niche in the near future to stay in the business otherwise he would like several travel agencies in the state either shut down or have to reduce staff drastically.
Perhaps the final word should go to Pamela who said that for the first time ever, the Department had opened up decision making process in order to ensure professional marketing and promotions in such events by forming State Marketing Committee of ten members with five eminent members coming from tourism trade who are advised by a professional Brand and Marketing consultant. Budget depends on the allocations and approvals given by the State Marketing Committee, depending on the actual requirements and need for such investments. This year, she said the budget could be around five crores for international events.
Time will tell if their efforts achieve success
