PANJIM: Tourism stakeholders expected an impressive initial months of the tourist season but several factors such as GST, slow infrastructural works across many places and Goa turning out to be an expensive destination has been a major letdown.
The stakeholders complain that not only the tourist footfalls in the last few days of December – which is when Goa is usually flooded with tourists — was not up to the mark and occupancy in several hotels, guest houses, room-to-let accommodations also received poor response. They now wish that the New Year would bring them prosperity in business unlike the previous years.
“It has not been a bad year… The season this year was reasonably satisfactory although we expected a good season. There was a decline in the total number of tourists during the Christmas days. The response could be attributed to various factors like GST, etc. We hope to increase tourism in the remaining period of the season,” Travel and Tourism Association of Goa President Savio Messias said.
Goa becoming an expensive vacation hub and “poor marketing” of Brand Goa also kept away many tourists from opting to travel to Goa. “Goa is expensive compared to other states that offer cheaper holiday period for its visitors. So also, marketing of Goa is poor and it has to be taken over by professionals to ensure we get quality and good number of tourists,” Messias said adding, “Development works are underway at many places and it’s good that we are upgrading our infrastructure. But the slow pace of work is causing hindrance.”
President of Shack Owners Welfare Society Cruz Cardozo echoed TTAG Chief’s view stating that travel and stay at other destinations is cheaper than Goa. “Demonetisation, GST, expensive hotels and air fares, and other destinations being cheaper than Goa, is affecting the tourist season,” he said.
In the profession for nearly 25 years, Cruz also lamented that raking up smaller issues into bigger controversies has largely affected the brand. “Goa is hit by some or the other reasons every year. No issue becomes an issue and as a result, tourism is hit,” he rued. Meanwhile, Cruz hopes that the coming months would bring in more tourists even as he stated that the ongoing season till date has been ‘satisfactory.’
The domestic tourists, on the other hand, have come to the rescue of many stakeholders with Cruz stating, “There are not many foreigners but number of domestic tourists are good. President of Private Properties Shacks Owners Association Dharmesh Saglani backed his view opining that the season is slow and the private shack operators are ‘surviving on Indian tourists.’
While issuance of early licences to the beach shacks was a positive move by the government as the shack operators could begin their business without any delay, the private shack operators are not that lucky.
