PANAJI
The current month of February is looking good for the tourism business, but March and April are expected to pose challenges due to shrinking charter segment. But, even in the month of February, hotels are not looking at the kind of sky-high tariffs they had charged in January.
Ralph de Sousa, chairman of de Souza Group, said, “Hotels, overall, should have an occupancy rate of 80-85% in February. But, even in this month, it is the top-end 5-star hotels and low-end dormitories, which are expected to do good business. The middle segment, 2-star and 3-star hotels, are likely to have a tough time” de Sousa continued, “Top end hotels have marketing offices in several parts of India and abroad, which help them in targeting tourists. Dormitories are doing well since a lot of price conscious, low income travellers are coming to Goa.”
5-star hotels are offering tariffs of around Rs 10,000-13,000 per night in February on weekends, but in January, they had charged in excess of Rs 20,000 per night on weekends.
Siddharth Savkur, general manager, Alila Diwa Goa, said, “We are expecting similar kinds of occupancy in February as we had in January. But, we aren’t expecting similar levels for tariffs. January gives a good opportunity as a lot of weddings are planned in that month, which pushes up the demand and allows us to charge a high tariff”
But, starting from March, the going for hotels is likely to be even tougher in Goa. de Sousa said, “Till couple of years ago, November and April used to be shorter months for tourism, while December, January and February used to be peak months. But, since last year, even March is a shorter month, as it doesn’t see too many tourists visiting the state”
Savkur added, “Till 3 years ago, charters used to bring tourists till mid-April. But now, charter segment is shrinking due to slowdown in Russia. And by mid-March itself, charter segment pretty much comes to an end”
Amidst all this, there is a ray of hope, as Defexpo will happen in Quepem in the last days of March, which will give boost to hotels in South Goa.
