Team Herald
PANJIM: When the sun set on March 21, 2020, it brought on a long night of despair to the tourism industry. As hotels and guesthouses emptied out, many remained shuttered for months, and some of those that have chosen to reopen are fighting to survive in conditions that are not conducive to tourism.
Take for instance Jose Holiday Home at Cavelossim. Until exactly a year ago that staff of this enterprise had a busy schedule attending to guests, a large number of whom were chartered tourists and ensuring that the visitors had a safe and pleasant holiday. One year later, the management of the holiday home struggles to even pay the monthly salary to their only staff member.
“I re-started the holiday home in November 2020 with a hope that the situation would gradually turn better. But it gets worse. The government keeps saying the hotel industry is doing well. No, we are not doing well. I have just one staff working for me at the moment and I don’t earn an amount to even pay his monthly salary,” the owner of the holiday home, Jose Barreto told Herald.
The 10-room holiday home, until before the pandemic and the lockdown, had Russian and British tourists checking in. “They were my fixed guests annually. They had been booking my holiday home for last 14-15 years. The situation is different now. There are many days when not even a single room is occupied,” he said. Once earning around Rs 12 lakh during the tourist season, the holiday home is now earning “peanuts”, he said.
Another instance is of Edwin Barreto, also an hotelier in South Goa, who is caught in a similar situation. He spent around
Rs 8-9 lakh to re-start the business at his family’s commercial property – Sao Domingos and Lucianos.
“I paid every tax and utility bills. I expected that at least the village panchayat would grant some relief but it didn’t. The two holiday homes are open for tourists but starred hotels are killing our business with attractive packages,” he said, sharing his ordeal and adding, “Barely have we found occupancy after reopening around four months ago. Even one guest is a big respite.”
This holiday home also gets guests with a maximum of two-night stay period. Working with limited staff, the management of this hotel has also been struggling to pay the monthly utility bills, annual tax and salaries to it staff.
As Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TAG) claims that tourism was the first to be hit by the pandemic and will be the last to recover, the smaller hotels are amongst the worst affected.
Small and Medium Hotels Association president Serafino Cotta said nearly 90 per cent of the hotels in South Goa are in a dire situation while the scene in the North is completely different. “Many small and medium hotels are dependent on chartered tourists. A few, located in the close vicinity of starred hotels, have managed to re-open their business. However, a lot many have remained closed for a year now,” he said.
