CANDOLIM/CALANGUTE/BAGA: Christmas and the two EDM festivals to be held in the State have pepped up the otherwise poor tourist season, with the Candolim-Calangute-Baga belt experiencing satisfactory footfalls bringing cheers to many of the tourism stakeholders.
The three beaches on Christmas day saw an impressive attendance of tourists, which the shack operators and other business owners said began from December 24.
With cancellation of chartered flights from Russia and Ukraine due to the economic crisis back home and the same dampening the State’s tourism season, stakeholders are still looking for a miracle to happen in the coming days.
One of the longest running restaurants close to the Baga beach, Brittos, which entertains lakhs of tourists during on and off seasons, is facing the heat of the drop in tourist arrivals, particularly foreigners.
Owner Cajetan Britto rues, “This is the worst tourist season I am facing. I had good business in the months of June-July-August with several domestic tourists coming to my restaurant. But against our expectation, the peak season is disappointing. I can count foreign clients on the fingers of my hand.”
Similar is the view of a shack owner from Candolim who claimed the beach was crowded on Thursday being Christmas holiday. “The crowd is only because of the Christmas holiday. Domestic tourists have driven from the neighbouring states. Until yesterday (Wednesday Dec 24), the beach was nearly empty,” Rita Simoes, who runs Drop Inn Shack at Candolim told Herald.
The beach shack operators recall their sheds being overbooked during the peak season and beach beds selling like hot cakes. A waiter at an adjacent shack, Peter Nunes, mentioned it wasn’t an easy task handling the crowd last season.
“Every shack had ample number of tourists, be it Indian or foreign nationals. We were on our toes taking orders for meals and drinks, and serving them… the crowd is satisfactory this time,” he said adding, “Moreover, tourists were ready to pay any amount to get beach beds and spend hours tanning themselves while also reading or listening to music.”
Being a brand name for decades, Brittos manages to get clients but Cajetan says he is still not happy with the turnout as of now. “I am keeping my fingers crossed for the New Year as some fresh arrivals are expected,” he added.
As per figures by the tourism department, about 14.13 lakh domestic tourists and a little over two lakh international tourists visited Goa from January to August 2014. Department sources said the trend is shocking considering government adopting various marketing strategies including junkets within India and abroad to promote Goa as 365 days holiday destination.
Sitting in front of his store, Kashmiri handicraft dealer Wahid Bukhari speaks about how he has been struggling to carry out his business. “I do get clients though not in large numbers. Last season, I earned good revenue and now I am in such a fix that mostly I accept the price customers want to buy at,” he said claiming he spends lakhs of rupees to buy the items from his native land and transport these to Goa.
Calangute, the beach that witnesses the highest number of domestic tourists is too not far from the realities Baga and Candolim are facing.
A boat operator, found playing cards with his fellow men, hopes to find more people taking the service. “We had clients back-to-back. Now, we have time to play cards,” Anthony Gomes laughs.
