TravTalk India Online Magazine
With international charter flights starting in a small way, Goa hopes that its travel trade, including tourist guides and small and mid-sized hotels, will be able to conduct business in better way. At present, about 500 passengers are reaching Goa from Moscow every 10 days, and number is expected to increase in coming days.
Hazel Jain
There is good news and bad news coming from Goa. Nilesh Shah, President, Travel & Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG), reveals that international charters – the main artery for travel business in Goa – restarted from Russia and Ukraine in December 2021.
“From Moscow we are welcoming almost 500 passengers every 10 days and we expect this to increase,” Shah said. “However, the charters from Ukraine have paused for the time being due to the third wave and the civil unrest there,” he added.
“Moreover, TUI was to send four flights per week from the United Kingdom – two from Manchester and two from Gatwick. This unfortunately got cancelled because of the third wave. They were to start from January 20, 2022. But we remain hopeful and with the new private airport in Mopa, which will be operational by the next season, I think the charter movement will see a boom as there will be no restrictions,” he added. Rescheduling these TUI charters looks difficult.
“The challenge is that charters take a long time to plan. Now that the one to Goa is cancelled, they will look at other countries for their charters that have similar climate such as Egypt or Sri Lanka,” he says. “So, it looks difficult for now. But we could get them back in the next season,” Shah said.
With the charters starting in a small way, the smaller hotels in Goa have opened up. “It has been tough for them. While charters stay for between 10 and 21 days on an average, the domestic tourist only stays in Goa for three days. Also, the domestic travellers’ needs are very different. So, for the smaller hotels to shift from foreign tourists to domestic was challenging. It was difficult for them to cope with that market. Charters have also given a boost to tourist guides, who have started to get business. Despite challenges we are hopeful,”he said.
Goa needs ease of doing business
TTAG recently conducted a bike rally in Goa, along with Goa Tourism. Speaking about the issues that the trade continues to face in Goa, Shah says, “In Goa specifically, the government has given interest concession for six month of up to five per cent. They should continue this for another year. For charter business, they had given a landing fee concession of Rs1 lakh. That should continue. Goa had pushed for free visas of up to `5 lakh and we hope it will will be increased to more than five lakhs.”
The main agenda that TTAG wants to push now is to allow ease of doing business – whether it is tourism licence for five years or permissions for events and weddings. “We have requested the Goa government to have a single-window clearance for events like they have done for film shoots. This will help especially with the new convention centre in Goa,” Shah explains.
