Team Herald
PANJIM: The ongoing tourist season has been quite challenging for the beach shack operators as after facing the effects of Cyclone ‘Titli’, it is the crisis over import of fish into Goa and increasing prices of vegetables, fruits and beverages that has marred their trade.
Inflation has forced restaurateurs to increase the prices on their menus by 5 to 10 percent. This has in turn affected their revenue leading to a drop in customers.
“The prices of grocery items, vegetables, fruits and beverages have increased. Moreover, the current crisis over fish has led to a massive increase in price. We are therefore forced to increase the rate of food items by 5 to 10 percent,” Goa Shack Owners Welfare Society president Cruz Cardozo said, speaking to Herald.
With the increase in menu prices, Cardozo lamented that the number of customers have declined. “Customers are few but if we don’t make these changes, from where we will pay salaries to our staff and save for ourselves?” he asked, slamming that the arrivals, particularly chartered tourists in the first month of the season has not been impressive.
The cost of alcoholic beverages has also been hiked due to the combination of VAT and GST as the State government increases the taxes on alcoholic beverages every year. “Most tourists now prefer to dine elsewhere in order to save that extra money on food and drinks,” a shack operator at Majorda Beach, Leo Fernandes, said.
“The cost incurred on building the temporary structure with toilets and other basic facilities is huge. If we do not hike the price, how will our families survive? It is during the tourist season that we can earn revenue and store for the remaining months till the next season,” Inas Carvalho, proprietor of a shack at Calangute, told Herald.
“We also pay fees for obtaining licences. We ultimately spend more than our actual earning,” he rued, urging the government to intervene and come to their rescue.
