Karan Sehgal
PANAJI
Most hoteliers expect this trend to continue even in future as double digit growth in tariff per year seems like a thing of past.
Tourism stakeholders informed that hotels that were trying to make a killing by sharply increasing tariffs had to face low occupancy rates. Kunal Gujral, vice-president, sales & marketing, Resort Rio in Arpora, said, “The strategy of increasing tariffs in peak season didn’t really work this time. We, in fact, have kept our package prices static over last two years. By doing so, we have actually improved our occupancy by 18-20 per cent in FY 2015-16 over the previous year.”
However, other hotels faced an even tougher situation, particularly those which were focusing solely on foreign tourists.
Francis Fernandes, manager, Villa Fatima Beach Resort in Baga, said, “Russians comprise around 75 per cent of tourists at our resort. Their currency had depreciated substantially last year. In order to attract them, we had to slash our tariffs by 20-30 per cent.
