Economy in India was struggling anyways and the entry of coronavirus (COVID-19) came as a bolt out of the blue. Business is at standstill as the self travel restrictions have brought the economic activity to a halt. With Prime Minister announcing ‘Janta Curfew’ for coming week or two, it may lead to further stalling of business. However, on the contrary the sensex continues to dip in the share market. Goa too is witnessing and one can see with the number of parking space available in the market. Shops have very few visitors except in the case of grocery and medical shops. People are queuing up to “store” as much as they can, giving a sense of panic buying.
“Tourism industry is completely at a standstill and when the crisis of this magnitude comes, travelling is the last thing which comes to peoples’ mind. This also is a right strategy and it is better to shut down now to avoid a bigger problem that may occur later. This COVID-19 virus is more feared for its ability to spread rather than its ability to kill. Hence, there could be a domino effect and travelling can help it spread rapidly. Yes, tourism is suffering and there are losses to all its stakeholders but then if we do not take these drastic measures now then I think the losses will be far more in magnitude. We should accept the reality and prepare for the season ahead,” said Nikhil Desai, managing director of Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC).
He added that many of the stakeholders have already gone into the business of getting things repaired and refurbished for the season ahead. “We also are on this job which we normally do it in monsoon but we have advanced it so that we are ready when the sun finally comes out,” he added.
There are two things – firstly, yes, many travellers will avoid travelling abroad for next 7-8 months. However there will be business and unavoidable travel but then the leisure travel will be affected as the sentiments are now ruling. Secondly, most of the holidays are like a washout now as people may have bought tickets and booked hotel rooms and their money is stuck. For those who have booked in Goa, many of the hoteliers are ready to do the rescheduling rather than forfeiting the total business. Also people will also look to unwind themselves from this stress and will travel on a later date when thing settles down.
“I am cautiously optimistic of the scenario that once people have suffered losses in their business, their first priority will be not to travel but to re-build their life. How long will this take to re-build and what will be the impact will be determined by how soon the tourist season will take to revive. However, if the virus is contained by the month of April, then there is a possibility of some green shoots coming up in the month of May or June,” added Desai.
Schools will have to reschedule their holidays and all tourism will depend on the school calendar too. The situation is very fluid and no prediction can be made as of now. It is something very serious and it has lots of nuances added to it; and it will leave tremendous impact on the economy through its trail. India has taken this very seriously right from the beginning and not taken lightly as other European countries have.
President of the Goa Chambers of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Manoj Caculo believes that the worst hit is the tourism industry. “I have been talking to many hoteliers and many of them said that they are hardly having occupancy of 10-20 per cent. Even the restaurant business has been severely hit as there are hardly any tourists and local Goans are staying indoors. Since the casinos are closed, the taxi operators are also hit. The retail industry is also feeling the heat as the buyers are going to supermarkets to stock the goods under panic,” Caculo added.
He further stated that the situation is so bad that small businesses may not be able to sustain itself beyond March 31. “They will not have money to pay the salaries of their staff as all the events, functions, parties etc has been cancelled. In fact caterers are having huge staff on their rolls,” said Caculo.
The hotel industry is facing this with its business going down by more than 50 per cent to the least. The downslide is just because of “precaution” and no other factor is engaged in this slide.
Area Director Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), Goa and GM, Taj Exotica, Vincent Ramos told Herald that, “We are hopeful that we will come out of this and this is just a temporary phase and the government has taken all precautions to stem this. We are cautious and hopeful. We are also on our part taking all the precautions and standard laid procedures to fight this virus.” IHCL which is the market leader has about 1,500 rooms in Goa with 14 properties and the largest hotel company in the state.
Sandalwood hotel at Dona Poula is having only 4-5 per cent occupancy. General Manager of the hotel Kamran told Herald that, “We have got lot of cancellations. We used to get lot of Iranians from March 17 to April 4 as it is their ‘Navroz’ (New Year) season, but this time we have none. We used to get 700 room nights for this period which is approximately 20 days sale for us. We do not know how to sustain ourselves and we are only calling our debtors to pay the pending bills.”
The airline industry is also facing a dip. Late on Tuesday evening, Air India cancelled its flight from Goa to London and it also pulled out of London operations. Several other flights are being cancelled due to low occupancy. Sources in the aviation industry told Herald that, “Airline industry is in the doldrums as there are many cancellations and stations are shutting down because of the lockdown in several place around the globe. There is huge revenue loss. For the passengers it is a difficult time too as every hour, the rules are changing. However, in Goa we are getting outward bound passengers but the flights coming in to Goa are virtually empty.”
The Goa government has now taken decision to close down malls, which were sporting a deserted look this week as there were hardly any footfalls due to the closure of cinema halls etc. People have started to buy online. Goa’s biggest Mall, Mall de Goa Marketing Director Mr Bhuvanish Shet spoke to Herald a day before the government took a decision to close down all the malls. He said, “The footfalls have completely stopped. We also cannot take individual decision to lock down the mall where 85 units are involved.”
Sources in the Mall industry told Herald that the State government should have in fact, locked down completely for 15 days when they shut down the cinema theatres. Opening something selectively is not good. In Maharashtra, the malls have been shut down and similar mode was adopted by Goa on March 19.
However, despite all these, there appears to be a never ending beeline at the super markets and retail stores. Partner in Magsons, Kirit Maganlal told Herald that, “There is definitely a huge spurt in buying. I would not call it panic buying but there is surely an upsurge. People are becoming more conscious and aware and they are stocking more that they normally would. From our part also, we are trying to convey to the customer that we are keeping a sufficient stock and that there is no need to rush. In fact we are encouraging people to buy online and use home delivery facilities to avoid the crowd during this virus alert.”
Similar sentiments were seen at the Kini Super Mart at Carenzalem. Proprietor of Kini Super Mart, Sandhya Kini Mayenkar told Herald that, “Yes there is a mad rush and people are buying more out of panic. In fact, items like hand santisers have been picked up like hot cakes. The sale of groceries has also gone up substantially. However, we have stock to ensure that all our customers are satisfied.”
However, the business of beauty parlours has been the worst hit. “For the last three days, we did not have any customer. As of now our business is down and almost shut. This has never happened before. People are not taking any risk. Nevertheless, we have been taking proper care of hygiene and health,” said Sheetal Surve proprietor of Blueberry Hair and Skin Beauty Studio at Carenzalem.
