-- There could be a drop in the number of charters coming to Goa this season -- Liberalization of VISA regime will further attract more tourists -- Russia-Ukraine standoff a concern but no panic situation -- Looking at growing tourist base from other countries
No one could have
thought till a few months back that the ongoing Russian-Ukraine crisis will
have an unlikely problem for Goa. Few charter operators in Russia have gone
bankrupt and as a result Goa is likely to see a fall in the number of charter
flights this tourist season. Nikhil Desai, Managing Director, Goa Tourism
Development Corp (GTDC) explains in a chat with The Goan how the State has made sustained efforts to attract
tourists from new markets, how more and more domestic travellers are coming to
Goa and how despite Russia-Ukraine crisis, Goa is going to record a high growth
in overall tourist arrivals this season
The
Goan: Market sources are saying that due to crisis in Ukraine, some charter
operators in Russia have gone bankrupt. Due to this, there might be a drop in
the number of charter flights arriving in Goa this tourist season. How serious
is this concern?
Nikhil
Desai: It is a matter of concern. However, I wouldn’t press
the alarm button right now, as we still have to see how the situation pans out.
Russian Ruble has devalued significantly. This is due to international
sanctions imposed on Russia in the wake of the crisis. Due to all this, some
charter operators in Russia have gone bankrupt since their nature of business
exposes them to foreign exchange fluctuations. At the same time, even UK’s
economy is also taking longer to recover than expected. Few charters from UK
have also pulled out this season. This brings us to the problem that Russia and
UK, which account for a huge share of foreign tourists coming to Goa, are
struggling with weak economic situation. Based on this, we can say that we
could see a drop in the number of charter coming to Goa this season though it
brings us back to the old philosophy that never put all your eggs in one
basket. We have looked at other markets in the world. For instance, economic
situation in Middle-East, South-East-Asia, China is looking much better. In
fact, economic situation of Eastern European countries is much better than
Western European countries. We have done work to target tourists in these
countries. We need to realize that trends change with time. For instance, in
2002, Goa got less than 1,000 Russian tourists, today we get 1.6 lakh Russian
tourists. Similarly, we are looking at growing tourist base from other
countries through our sustained efforts. We have interesting example in Kerala,
which made a decision not to woo charters. They are positioning Kerala for what
it is known for; for Ayurveda, for eco-tourism and as a result they got 8.5
lakh tourists. It is time for us to find other ways to grow tourism apart from
charters. It is now time for the state government and the industry to go to
newer markets. The government has taken corrective steps. We are trying to
attract tourists from Middle East, Poland, Hungary, South-East Asia and Japan.
People will say that Goa doesn’t have Buddhist culture, so why attract Japanese
travellers. That’s not the right way to look at it. For instance, union government
is attracting Japan to get investments. Imagine when Japanese expats start
living in India in high numbers, we always can show Goa to them.
TG:
Could you throw more light on the state government taking corrective action?
ND:
We are anticipating that VISA-on-arrival will be rolled out at Goa airport in
October 2014 for 40 countries. We are even going to have electronic travel
authorization. Based on this, we have a good reason to believe that
liberalization of VISA regime is going to happen soon. This will further
attract more tourists. We will require
the support of customs and immigration departments at the airport because
suddenly these departments will have to handle more tourists. We have to make
sure that tourists have a hassle-free experience. We strongly believe that such
hassle-free experience will get us good word-of-mouth publicity as such
tourists will spread good word about Goa to their family, friends and acquaintances.
TG:
Could you tell us about the work the government has done to find new markets
for tourists?
ND:
We
have done road shows in countries like Sweden and Norway. We are attending
travel marts regularly across the world. We are going to be present at IFTM
2014 (the international event for the French travel market) in Paris. When the
hotels, travel agents from Goa participate with us in such events, it helps to
educate people in these new markets as they will learn more about what Goa has
to offer. As a result of these efforts, FAM tours (familiarization tours for
international travel community) will happen. For instance, a FAM tour from
Armenia is going to come to Goa pretty soon. One would ask why we are targeting
Armenia. Georgia and Armenia have strong Catholic communities. We are targeting
these communities for pilgrimage tourism as Goa has a number of relevant sites
and festivals for that. There has to be sustained efforts to promote Goa as a
tourism spot. No product can survive in the world today without aggressive
marketing. Now, coming back to the main question of likely drop in charters
this season, we must realize that charters are a way to fill in the gap. We are
making efforts to target new markets, FITs (free individual travellers), small
groups and these put together will definitely offset any shortfall on account
of charters.
TG:
We hear that a travel event is going to happen in Russia in September itself.
What is going to be your strategy there?
ND:
We are participating in OTDYKH MICE–2014 which is going to happen from
September 16th in Moscow. In fact, we have been participating for
the last 7 to 8 years in this event. A number of networking events are planned
during this event. Trade representatives from Goa are also going to be there.
It depends upon how trade networks with the people there. Moreover, FAM tour is
coming from Russia on September 6th and 7th followed by a
similar tour of representatives from Kazakhstan.
TG:
A lot of people are talking about Vietnam posing serious competition to Goa as
a tourist destination. What are your comments on this?
ND:
Well,
competition will be there not just from Vietnam but from other countries as
well. For instance, Sri Lanka also gets a number of tourists every year. Indian
hospitality industry has also gone and made investments in Sri Lanka. However,
we shouldn’t lose sight of opportunities which Goa offers. Co-ordinated efforts
from the government and the industry are required and this is already
happening. For instance, 80 representatives from industry were present at GITM
(Goa International Travel Mart) this year. We recently did wedding shows in
Delhi and 60 representatives from industry had joined us.
TG:
Since there may be some drop in the number of charters, have you increased
focus on domestic tourists?
ND:
We
have been constantly targeting domestic tourists aggressively. In fact, we had
10-15% growth in the number of tourists in June-July-August period in 2014
compared to corresponding period last year. We have made Goa a huge destination
for weddings, MICE activities (meetings, incentives, conferences and
exhibitions) and festivals. Due to all this, we are getting so many domestic
tourists. In fact, we have situations wherein people don’t get rooms to stay in
Goa in September, which is not even tourist season. Flights to Goa from Delhi
and Mumbai have 70-80% load factor. We are spearheading efforts to promote Goa,
we are rebranding it and targeting high-end tourists. It is a difficult market.
Markets don’t develop easily. It will take 5-6 years for the result of these
efforts to show. We have built a platform for the industry in the form of events
we do and attend. The industry is attending these events. This shows that institutional
reforms are happening. The effort is towards aggressively marketing Goa and exploring
new markets. For instance, if travel writers who come on FAM tours write about
Goa, we will get a lot of mileage. We have done a brand association with the
upcoming movie ‘Finding Fanny’. The movie is based around Goan culture and we
think this is a great way of branding Goa. Our brand activation campaign is
being shown over 14 channels. All these efforts are towards making Goa more
visible.
TG:
What steps has the government taken to improve the situation in areas where
tourists stay?
ND:
A
huge cleanliness drive of beaches has already started. We have made parking
lots in Baga and Calangute. The work on parking lot in Colva will start soon.
We are making efforts to improve lighting on streets and beach areas where
tourists stay so that these places become safer. Toilets are soon going to get
installed.
TG:
Based on all this, what kind of numbers do you see this tourist season?
ND:
Our
efforts in terms of attracting tourists from new markets, attracting more and
more domestic tourists, likely VISA liberalization will all help us in posting
a good growth in the number of tourists this season. Last season, we had 31.25
lakh tourists in Goa. This season, we are expecting around 40 lakh tourists in
Goa. We need to make sure that we maintain this momentum even in future.
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