THIS TOURIST SEASON DISPELS COVID GLOOM, FINALLY

Will April stop being the cruellest month, finally? As another tourist season draws to an end, and as the industry stakeholders prepare to wind down operations for summer and do their accounting, the question on everyone’s lips is – is the COVID-induced nightmare finally over for the tourism sector?
There are no easy answers to that, but the general consensus is that 2022-23 tourist season that began in October and will close in summer has been far better than the two COVID years, though it still has some catching up to do when compared to the last pre-COVID tourist season of 2019-20.Industry insiders predict next season will match those numbers.

Cruz Cardozo, president of Shack Owners Welfare Society (SOWS), says that the year has been much better than the COVID phase. “We are almost on a par with the 2019-20 figures, though there’s still some catching up to do. On an average, if shacks made `19 lakh that year, for this season the figures would be around `15 lakh business.” Restaurateurs based along North Goa’s coastal belt say that the mix of Indian and foreign tourists has helped them back on their feet. Amey Naik, who runs a restaurant in Assagao, says, “We get mostly Indian tourists and there are many restaurants in the area catering to a wide clientele.”
Nilesh Shah, president of travel and tourism association of Goa (TTAG), points out that the opening of the new airport at Mopa has helped bring in more holidayers. “Starred resorts have shown full occupancy during the season and rates have shot up by 15-20% . The Russian charter market was almost 50-55% of other years, but that will bounce back by next year’s tourist season. There was a slight hiccup in the UK market as online visas were stopped, but the process restarted in January.”

With destination weddings and events back in full swing, occupancy rates of hotels and resorts have also shot up. “We are now getting around 85-95% occupancy during weekends, while the weekday numbers are almost 75%. This is a bit short of the 2019 figures,” adds Nilesh.
These occupancy numbers are largely reflected by the bookings at private property shacks and beach huts. “Our occupancy rates are 70%-80% on weekends and around 60% on weekdays. For the past two years, the numbers were around 30-40%. I’m sure we will be back to pre-COVID numbers by next season. Most of our domestic clients come to Goa during long weekends or on festivals like Diwali, Chaturthi, Christmas and New Year,” says Dharmesh Saglani, All Goa Private Property Shacks/Huts Owners' Association president.


Cruz, who plans to shut his shack by April, noticed another interesting trend – in the COVID period, when international travel was stopped, most high-spending tourists came to Goa and spent the same money they would have shelled out on their luxury international trips. Restaurateur Amey Naik seconds this: “High-spenders had nowhere else to go to. So they all came to Goa.”
A manager from a starred hotel in Candolim confirms that there has been a dip in the number of high-spending holidayers. “But we have seen an increase in foreign tourists, especially Russians, though it still doesn’t match 2019 figures, mostly because of the war. The industry has benefited from the influx of domestic tourists.” Seby Fernandes, who runs a shack in Candolim, has seen an increase in British tourists this season. “I got a lot of repeat tourists this year from the UK. These are mostly elderly, retired tourists who come to Goa for a two to four weeks. They like a quiet holiday, watching the sunset, reading a book and maybe taking a dip.”
GOA TOURISM NUMBERS GAME
Year Domestic Foreign
2019 71.3 9.3
2021 33 0.22
2022 49.5 1
(In 2020 tourism was at a standstill due to COVID)
(All figures are approximate and in lakhs)
HOW WAS 2022 TOURIST SEASON?
Month Domestic Foreign
Oct 6.38 0.14
Nov 6.6 0.27
Dec 7.6 0.33
(All figures are approximate and in lakhs)