The fag-end months of the year brought cheers to Goa’s hospitality sector with rush of tourists and weddings bringing back the smiles. However, the industry is not out of the woods as Omicron scare has led to a few cancellations of bookings, albeit the figures are negligible at the moment.
The Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) said there have been 4-5 per cent of cancellations in the bookings of flights and hotel rooms.
“There are a few cancellations…may be around 4-5 per cent. People might be apprehensive owing to increase in Omicron cases in certain States… They are taking precautions,” TTAG President Nilesh Shah told Herald.
The cancellations, nonetheless isn’t impacting the overall tourism scenario with the State witnessing an impressive season, currently. Shah said the last month of the year has always been extraordinary for the stakeholders.
“December has always been good for Goa as the inflow is tremendous. Presently, although there have been some cancellations, those who couldn’t get rooms are now availing it,” he added.
Apart from drive-in tourists and those arriving by railways, the footfall at Dabolim airport has also boost tourism in the last couple of weeks. Despite the Omicron variant fear, Airport Director Gagan Malik said that total arrival and departure footfall is over 25,000 per day.
“On an average, there are 88 departures per day… The total was around 99 last Sunday. We are expecting more departures (indicating increase in arrivals via flights). We have more than 25,000 footfall on an average daily,” he said.
The figures indicate that Goa is still a destination to celebrate Christmas and New Year — alike other festivals and long weekends — as influx of domestic tourists have been quite remarkable in the second half of the year.
The State is also receiving international tourists with resumption of charter flights. The COVID-19 pandemic had wiped out the business last year as it did in other parts of the country and the globe.
Source: OHeraldo ( https://www.heraldgoa.in/Goa/Fagend-months-bring-cheer-to-State%E2%80%99s-hospitality-industry-/184448 )
