Shacks like this one at Colva are getting fewer customers this year.

PANAJI/COLVA/CALANGUTE: There’s a pall of gloom along Goa’s world-famous beach belt. Usually chock-a-block with tourists , vehicles, and its commercial stretches throbbing with life, a sharp decrease in tourism this year has seen stakeholders subdued. A “flop season” is how shack operators have already labelled it.

Updated figures are not available, but it is suspected that there is a fall in business by more than 50% vis-a-vis last season.

The Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) has also confirmed that there has been an overall drop in foreign tourists. “Occupancy at hotels could be as low as 50%,” said president Savio Messias.

Shack owners agree. “The season has been very bad,” said shack owners’ welfare society (SOWS) president Cruz Cardozo.

“There are hardly any tourists. The dip in arrivals could be more than 50%.”

Messias said that room occupancy last December was around 70-80%, and this time, it’s far worse. “Last December, businesses fared better than they are doing this month,” he said.

The sharp drop in arrivals is evident in the fall of the number of charter tourists. This November saw 11,432 arrivals, down from over 32,000 last year. December 2018 saw over 42,000 charter arrivals, but till December 17 this year, the state saw under 19,000.

One ray of hope along the North Goa coastal belt is the three-day EDM festival Sunburn Klassique, which commenced at Vagator on Friday.

While the collapse of Thomas Cook has been a huge factor in the drop of British arrivals, some say that unrest in various parts of the country owing to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) has also contributed to the drop.

Additionally, various countries including Russia — which accounts for a large chunk of foreign tourist footfalls — have issued advisories to their citizens asking them to be cautious visiting India. TTAG had warned that Goa would feel the impact of the advisories, while some felt it was too early to predict any consequences.

However, a segment of shack operators blamed the fall on Goa’s tourism promotion strategy. “International travel marts by the tourist ministry and department have failed,” some said, bemoaning the “worst-ever” tourist season.

Thus, with the sharp drop in foreign arrivals, beach shack owners, water sports operators, beach bed operators and those running small eateries and stalls are now largely patronised by low-budget domestic tourists, who “bargain over everything”.

“Instead of buying shorts (which are very cheap anyway), they want to hire the shorts for a few hours to walk on the beach, and offer Rs 25-30 as rent,” said Damien Teles, who runs a stall at Candolim beach.

“We sell sunglasses for Rs 100, but they bargain and want them for Rs 50-60,” he said. “When we refuse to lower the price, they put on the sunglasses, click selfies, and give the sunglasses back.” He said that he has never seen a Christmas season as depressing as the current one.

Stakeholders say that the main difference between foreign and domestic tourists is that the former spend 15-30 days or longer in Goa, while the latter are only in the state for 3-4 days. Besides, very low-budget domestic tourists either sleep in their vehicles or book the cheapest accommodation available.

“We are in peak season and I have one table with foreigners and three with Indian tourists,” said shack owner Anthony Silva. “With India’s economy affected, how would Indians be able to afford a good holiday even for less than a week?”

Silva said that domestic tourists this year don’t have much spending power. “They have drinks and eat masala papad,” he said.

It’s even worse for beach bed operators. One operator TOI spoke to said he has stopped going to the beach even though it’s the last week of December. The space for beach beds has also decreased thanks to sand erosion caused by cyclone Kyarr in October.

The dip in footfalls has reflected in much lower hotel tariffs. Even high-end establishments that could command a premium during peak season have been left with no option but to lower the rates. Hoteliers across Goa confirmed to TOI that prices have been cut.

Messias, the TTAG president, said that other factors could have led to less occupancy. “A huge illegal room inventory could have deprived legitimate hotels of business,” he said.

Shack owner Domnic Afonso, who runs a popular shack in Benaulim, said that business even on Christmas Eve was like any other day, but it improved on Christmas day by 10%. “What happens now, during the run-up to the new year and the days after that, will give a correct picture of this tourist season,” he says.



In Video: Goa grapples with sharp dip in tourists, as New Year’s Eve approaches