PANAJI: While the tourism industry has had a good run over the past six months - after a prolonged, bleak period due to the pandemic - the monsoon doesn't seem to have affected the fortunes of certain segments of the industry. Starred hotels have been reporting a room occupancy of 70-80% in the first month of the rains, with prospects looking bright for July as well. This appears to be a nascent trend during non-season periods, when occupancy at hotels otherwise ranges between 50 and 60% or even less due a drop in footfalls. When matched with a similar time in the pre-pandemic period, stakeholders say the level of occupancy recorded this month was never so good. "Bookings this time around have been very encouraging. A 70% occupancy for the monsoon season is indeed good. The summer has not ended for the northern parts of India, so people are choosing to travel to Goa, and room tariffs being on the lower side have boosted the growth in footfalls," said Ralph de Sousa, president, Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The other reason for Goa witnessing a rise in footfalls, de Sousa said, is because Southeast destinations - where Indian tourists are known to flock - are yet to fully open up for travellers.
Panaji: While the tourism industry has had a good run over the past six months — after a prolonged, bleak period due to the pandemic — the monsoon doesn’t seem to have affected the fortunes of certain segments of the industry. Starred hotels have been reporting a room occupancy of 70-80% in the first month of the rains, with prospects looking bright for July as well. This appears to be a nascent trend during non-season periods, when occupancy at hotels otherwise ranges between 50 and 60% or even less due a drop in footfalls. When matched with a similar time in the pre-pandemic period, stakeholders say the level of occupancy recorded this month was never so good. “Bookings this time around have been very encouraging. A 70% occupancy for the monsoon season is indeed good. The summer has not ended for the northern parts of India, so people are choosing to travel to Goa, and room tariffs being on the lower side have boosted the growth in footfalls,” said Ralph de Sousa, president, Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The other reason for Goa witnessing a rise in footfalls, de Sousa said, is because Southeast destinations — where Indian tourists are known to flock — are yet to fully open up for travellers. “Goa has benefited from this circumstantial development. However, there is a caveat here. Flight tickets to Goa are expected to rise next month. A lot will depend on it as Goa attracts two main segments — youths and families — so if airfare goes up substantially, these segments may be affected. We hope the rise is marginal,” he said. Nilesh Shah, president of the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG), said hotel occupancy post-June 15 is expected to be over 70%. “This is a changed scenario for Goa in the monsoon where it can now expect higher occupancy — even more than 80%,” Shah said. “We found it difficult to find rooms for state guests ahead of a function held earlier this month. Most of the hotels in the starred category are running to full capacity,” a senior tourism official said. In the past, hotels would cap room tariffs during the monsoon, and if they were still not taken, they were put on sale. “For a change this time, I don’t think anybody is in a desperate need to put their rooms on sale, although a monsoon discount is on offer which could be about 20-25%, but during the weekends, hotels have been commanding good rates,” said de Sousa.
