----------------------------------------------------------------------- Documented by Goa Desc Documentation Service & circulated by Goa Civic & Consumer Action Network (GOA CAN)<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------- CRISIS IN TOURISM Editorial in Herald -----------------------------------
At a symposium held on Saturday, the hospitality segment of the hotel industry acknowledged that most hotels, particularly the starred ones, were facing a severe crisis. It was also admitted that one of the major reasons for the crisis is the savage undercutting that goes on routinely. It is no secret that hotels in the State, including the starred ones, sell their rooms at much less than even the rack rates. Presumably, the rationale is that it is better to get some revenue than none at all. There are starred hotels in the State who manage to achieve respectable rates of occupancy even in the lean season. But they pay a very heavy price for it. Because if they let their tariffs fall below a certain level, they will obviously not be able to generate the minimum revenue even to meet the debt obligations. Far more seriously, it means in the long term they will not be able to maintain the minimal standards required and expected of a starred property. Tour operators and travel agents have also historically been accessories or even the main culprits in devaluing the brand equity of Goa. When the charters began the tour operators played the hotels one against the other to drive down charter rates. So much so, the distinction between the star categories has virtually vanished. The 9\11 syndrome only aggravated matters. In fact, post bombing of the World Trade Centres, it was the Taj Group of hotels in the State which pressed the panic button. Obviously, the starred and non starred hotels cannot sustain themselves on the tariffs that they offer. Part of the problem is that there has never been any kind of unity among the hoteliers. At no stage, have even the hotels in the five star segment, come together to agree on a ceiling to the bottomless under-cutting war. The fact that the hospitality industry is now in a precarious state is now being belatedly acknowledged. Worse, there is no agreement on is the solution. The government's stand is that hotels in the State are over priced compared to other comparable tourists destinations outside the country. At the symposium in fact the Chief Secretary urged the hotel industry to do as a policy what there were doing under distress. Bring down their tariffs at reasonable levels. The hospitality industry is not however willing to make any such formal commitment. Instead, the industry is seeking more concessions. Anju Timblo of Cidade de Goa in fact made a very forceful plea for treating the hotel establishments as export houses pointing out to the foreign exchange earned by them. The problem is that given the size of Goa and its infrastructural constraints, we had reached the end of our tourism holding capacity probably five years ago. Though it was clear that there would be a major crises if more hotels were allowed to come up, nothing was done to stop the mindless expansions. Absurdly enough, even as the starred hotels are engaged in a grim struggle to survive, half-a-dozen new five star luxury hotels are due to come up with the property at Canacona expected to open in November. Everyone seems to agree that there is a need to stem the flood of cheap, cut-rate foreign tourists and shift to at least the middle end of the charter market, if not the high end.But this cannot happen unless the hotels tell the tour operators that they will not slash their tariffs beyond a point. The other problem of course is the abysmal infrastructure. The government may huff and puff and boast about the initiatives it has taken and proposes to take to improve the infrastructure. The grim ground reality is that there is not a machinery in place even to keep the beaches clean. The government may come up with elaborate schemes to collect garbage, but there is no waste management infrastructure or even the ghosts of a plan. Recently as part of its drive against plastic wastes in the coastal belt a large amount of plastic bags were seized.The government is stuck with them as it does know how to dispose off the material it has seized. In the high density coastal belts there are not waste treatment plants or even an.Even some of the starred hotels have been guilty of dumping their wastes in their neighbours' properties. Since there is no underground sewage system in large parts of the state even the starred hotels depend on soak pits. The airport is still primitive by international standards. Public private transport in the State continues to be abysmal. Though there is a super abundance of tourist taxis, the government has not been able to regulate or discipline them because of political compulsions. We have reached the limits of our holding capacity, our focus should be on value addition by re-engineer the mix or adding value to the tourism product. --------------------------------------- HERALD 17/9/02 page 6 --------------------------------------- ======================================= GOA DESC RESOURCE CENTRE Documentation + Education + Solidarity 11 Liberty Apts., Feira Alta, Mapusa, Goa 403 507 Tel: 252660 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] website: www.goadesc.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Working On Issues Of Development & Democracy ======================================= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet =================================================================== For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead !
