From
Gomantak Times, Goa, 30th December 2004
'If God came to Goa He'd have to sleep by the pool'
Team GT
PANAJI: Even as Thailand and Sri Lanka reel under the enormity of the
tragedy that
has befallen them, European travel companies, having already committed to
clients,
are desperate to recover from the disaster with as little losses as
possible.
The answer, they feel, lies in Goa because it offers sunny, pal-fringed,
beaches and
atmosphere, which is on par with both Thailand and Sri Lanka. Moreover, Goa
escaped
the disastrous effects of the Tsunami and is considered a safe destination.
However, despite repeated requests, the state is unable to absorb the few
thousand
tourists who would be diverted to Goa if the operators had their way.
As Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) president Charles Bonifacio
put it,
"We do not have the capacity to handle the existing in-flows. We have been
receiving
3,000 more passengers per week as compared to the last season but there hasn
't been
a proportionate increase in rooms."
Vinay Albuquerque of the Victor Alcon Group says, "The demand was already
huge and
is only getting bigger. If you think November and December were bad, January
onwards
will be worse considering that Phuket and Colombo are out of bounds. We
ourselves
have had a high materialization rate. All the thumb-rules that we have
followed for
years have been shattered. Even if God comes to Goa on a holiday He would
have to
sleep by the poolside. There has been a phenomenal increase that we are
finding
difficult to cope with."
Bonifacio adds: "The Belgian and Dutch charter tourists used to spend five
days in
either Sri Lanka or Thailand and then head to Goa. Now that they cannot go
to those
countries they want to spend their entire holidays in Goa but we just cannot
absorb
them. There are five extra Russian charters that are coming in only for the
New Year
celebrations. We have tried asking the companies to issue stop-sales but
they don't
agree. We have even asked newer properties to take in charter tourists but
we still
do not have enough space."
According to Bonifacio the trend will continue for some time and he says
that even
room have been sold out for the 2005-2006 season.
According to Albuquerque, Goa will need at least another 300 rooms as a
stopgap
arrangement to deal with the current rush. However it will be difficult and
though
the Central Government is offering low-interest loans for budget hotels,
infrastructure development will be some months away, during which time Goa
could
lose out on the demand.
Ernest Dias of SITA MICE, which has put up 10 tents at the Radisson White
Sands
Resort, says it is too soon to say how the disaster could affect Goa. He,
however,
is grateful that Goa got by unscathed, "It is fortunate that Goa did not
fall victim
to the disaster. It would have been catastrophic." ("Reuven Proenca"
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