Goa tourism may not be impacted this winter, despite high hotel room rates, expensive cabs

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. As Goa grapples with a public relations crisis, with users on social media ranting against high room rates and the lack of traveller-friendly transport facilities, it may only be a business-as-usual scenario for many hotels and travel companies this winter and no exponential growth, as was the case last year. Additionally, there is stiff competition from easy and quick-visa overseas destinations such as Thailand and Vietnam that are only a short flight away, prompting many domestic travellers to skip Goa this time.

However, hoteliers are still in wait-and-watch mode and optimistic of more bookings coming in as Christmas and New Year’s Eve draw closer. For the Radisson Hotel Group, business in north Goa had been static in October and November, with growth at just about the same level as last year. What’s encouraging, though, is that there hasn’t been a drop in business.

On the other hand, there has been an upswing in both average daily rates and occupancy in south Goa, where travellers pay much more per night. "Weddings being held in south Goa in December have helped the business grow here and this part of the state has shown much more promise as compared to last year. It is about 8-10% more.

Some international charters are also coming back, despite north Goa continuing to be in status quo with a small growth of 2-3% compared to last year," Nikhil Sharma, managing director and area senior vice president at Radisson, toldMint. At north Goa's Ronil-JDV by Hyatt, which is in its first year of business, enquiries are coming in swiftly and it expects serious travellers to close their bookings in the coming week. Most groups and independent guests are in their mid-30s and 40s.