Tuesday, October 6, 2020
The first long weekend has shown more than 50 per cent bookings for the starred hotels in Goa, and thus, the month of October will be a litmus test with a lot of changes expected in the travel sector, as per industry stakeholders.
While hotel prices, which otherwise can go up to Rs. 18,000 per night during peak season, are now available for as cheap as Rs. 4,000 with many even opting for air travels, bookings in October are like “green shoots”, according to Goa Tourism Development Corporation’s MD Nikhil Desai. Industry stakeholders will be considering every method to consolidate later but would now rather think of staying afloat since “these are not times to look for profit”, said Desai.
Desai said that GTDC has been monitoring the situation since March, and would be opening up activities. “Tourists will not prefer to just laze in the rooms however good the service is. This is a chicken and egg situation and we are looking to see when the situation will be better to open activities and only that will push the productive numbers. At this stage it looks like it all will take time,” he said.
The first expected action would be the reopening of Dudhsagar Falls next week.
While annual footfall is counted at 80 lakh travelers, only 10 to 12 lakh among them are foreign tourists, who usually stay through charter rates and for a longer period of minimum 14 days. This means that while the domestic tourist stays for a maximum of 4 days, a majority of them “actually bring more revenue compared to the foreign tourist who is mostly a budget traveler if he has chosen Goa”, said an official of a Travel and Tourism Association of Goa.
Tourism Director Menino D’Souza said that the majority of 33 per cent GDP of the state comes from tourism, of which “domestic tourists will be the biggest factor this year”.
Tags: 50 per cent bookings, goa
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