Falling, luxury tax cut may boost monsoon tourism in Goa

  PANAJI: While most people are affected by the sliding value of the rupee, which has even caused a steep hike in petrol prices, not everyone is complaining about the currency losing its sheen.

The tourism sector in the state is buoyant about the situation since Goa is set to witness a rise in the number of tourists visiting the state as many Indians have cancelled their plans of holidaying abroad due to the fall in the value of the rupee.

Travel operators STOI spoke to, claim that inquiries for packages to Goa have increased and June is expected to see a huge influx of tourists.

Nilesh Shah of Raj Travels told STOI, "Tourists who were to travel to the far east and other cheaper foreign destinations will change their plans due to the rising dollar," while adding that high-end tourists who had already made foreign holiday plans, may not change them.

He felt Goa is a good monsoon tourism destination as the pricing was competitive. Shah said Goa would now attract more people looking to hold their conferences, seminars and meetings. He also felt Goa was a preferred destination for short packages. "Hotels have a good occupancy and 70-75% of the rooms in hotels are occupied," Shah said.

Harpal Singh of Minar Travels was also of the view that "the rising value of the dollar has forced everyone to rethink their travel plans".

Ralph De Souza, spokesperson of Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG), was also of the view that Goa would attract more domestic tourists not just due to the fall in the value of the rupee, but also as the state government had cut the luxury tax for the off-season in the budget.

"Foreign travel will reduce," he told STOI, with regard to the rise in the value of the dollar.

"Many tourists who would have to pay in dollars for hotels, rooms, and transport at a foreign destination will prefer to come to Goa," he said.

De Souza also noted that since the air turbine fuel was cheaper in Goa, more airlines preferred to fly to Goa which resulted in more seats to Goa and cheaper fares. "With all these factors, the cost of packages can rationalize. We're hopeful that this will also result in an increase in the number of tourists coming to Goa," said De Souza.

He estimated that the increase would be in the region of 5%. Besides, it will also salvage the estimated 10% fall in tourists coming to the state due to certain central budget measures.

Swapnil Naik, director of tourism, told STOI, "We feel that this time there will be an increase in tourists coming to Goa. We observed a growing trend towards monsoon tourism in the state and occupancy had gone up by 60-65% during the monsoon season last year."

"Even now, hotel occupancy is almost 100% and this will continue for the next two weeks," he added.

Goa hosted 27 lakh tourists in the recently concluded tourism season.