Occupancy in hotels in Goa and parts of Kerala this winter is 20 per cent higher than in 2011, with tourists from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Hungary and other Eastern European countries pouring in. “This is bonus traffic for the two destinations,” says Vivek Nair, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of The Leela Group, which runs luxury hotels in Goa and Kerala. Occupancy at those properties have risen 20 per cent and rates have gone up by 10-12 per cent year-on-year, he adds.
Goa expects to have welcomed more than 5 lakh tourists in 2012, compared to 456,000 last year and 445,000 in 2010. Tourist arrivals from traditional markets such as the UK,
France and Germany have dropped significantly since the slowdown of 2008. Local hotelier Ralph de Souza, who is also President of the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa, says business for his hotels was up 15-20 per cent in 2012. “This is helping us keep our head above water,” he says.
Nikhil Desai, MD of the Goa Tourism Development Corporation, says that average occupancy across Goa in the peak winter months, barring of course the last 15 days of December, has been 75 per cent, which he expects will rise to above 90 per cent this year. “There is a much larger potential from these markets that we need to tap in.”
The tourism department is promoting a host of events, including the already popular Sunburn music festival, to provide a more diversified tourist experience. “At this rate, we will need to ramp up luxury hotel rooms in Goa,” says de Souza.