PANAJI
It's this time of the year when Goa -- considered among the top destinations to celebrate Christmas and New Year -- is most overcrowded. However, holidayers are experiencing an unexpected twist this festive season.
Contrary to expectations, airfares for the long Christmas weekend are soaring to unprecedented levels whereas New Year’s Eve surprisingly has reasonable rates, unlike the usual trend.
While this news might cheer those who plan spontaneous trips, it has also prompted speculation about whether the free-visa status and expectation from tourists to avail something even attractive from the coastal State are resulting in not-so-impressive turnout.
Airfares from major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Chennai to Goa are falling within the affordable range. According to various travel portals, for those flying from nearby destinations, such as Mumbai the airfares during the Christmas weekend range from Rs 3,000 to 4,000 while travellers from farther locations have to pay higher from Rs 7,000 to Rs 10,000 and slightly more for their flights to Goa during this period.
For those coming from Bangalore, the airfares are Rs 7,500 approx on December 23 and Rs 5,000 approx on the following day which drops to Rs 4,000 on Christmas day. Similarly, around Rs 9,000, Rs 6,000 and Rs 5,700 are the fares from Hyderabad on December 23, 24 and 25 respectively.
The New Year's Eve, on the other hand, offers pocket-friendly alternatives as airfares are around Rs 6,500 from Delhi, Rs 2,900 from Mumbai, Rs 2,250 from Bangalore, Rs 2,800 from Hyderabad, and similar rates from Chennai. Fares from Pune are around 14,000 on December 30 and around 6,000 on December 31. Among these destinations, Mumbai and Bangalore turn out to be the most affordable.
While quite a few factors could have attributed to the cause, the hotels are also experiencing less-than-anticipated bookings. President of the Goa Hotel & Restaurant Association, Gaurish Dhond, acknowledged that hotels are witnessing good occupancy but not as expected during this time of the year.
“Most hotels are booked to capacity, but the enthusiasm for celebrating December 31 in Goa seems to have waned. There could be various reasons, including Goa becoming a popular weekend getaway and tourists opting for shorter holiday breaks anytime during the year.
Today’s tourists are well-informed, and rather than spending three to four times more on a December 31 celebration, they prefer visiting on any other day,” he said.
When asked about the contrasting low airfares for December 31, Dhond pointed out that supply is as per the demand.
The Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) claimed that the overall season is good but it is catching up late. “People have other choices. Now one can book last-minute tickets (to Goa or other places) but we should also see that there are countries that have opened visa-free entry for Indians. So instead of spending 2-3 nights in Goa, they might prefer travelling internationally,” TTAG President Nilesh Shah said.
"Overall, the sentiments are low but considering that December is a rocking month, we are still optimistic that the footfalls will be much better in the coming days. We have seen that bookings during Christmas are sold out, and therefore, I don't see New Year won't meet the same fate."
The parties are in full swing along the coastal belt while the issue around Sunburn has been the centre of debate as its proposal to the government to hold the event from December 28-31 was shot down till December 30 and music to be played till 10 pm.
