Tag Archives: Goa

HVS ANAROCK’s monthly report titled ‘Hotels & Hospitality Overview’ reveals that in the month of January 2021, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Goa witnessed the highest increase in occupancy compared to the previous month. In fact, for the Indian hotel sector, occupancy remained between 46-48% on average, almost a 2% growth over December 2020.

First direct Bengaluru-Rajkot flight, operated by SpiceJet, was welcomed in the city with a water salute on 24th February, 2021. Hyderabad will also be connected with Rajkot from 1st March via SpiceJet. Flights between Goa and Rajkot will also start in March.

Goa Tourism will be the single window and nodal department for granting permissions to all tourism events, according to new guidelines released by the State Government. Recently, Pramod Sawant, Chief Minister, Goa, had revealed that they are in the process of giving single window clearance for all permissions required for events.

With Chipi airport in the Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra set to be operational later this month, Government of Maharashtra plans to develop the region further as an alternative destination to Goa. This will help boost tourism in the coastal district, currently reached by tourists mostly via rail or road.

Ministry of Tourism recently conducted its Domestic Tourism Roadshow in the western state of Goa. The chief guest at the event was Rupinder Brar, ADG, Ministry of Tourism, who shared that a complimentary development of domestic tourism is needed to further make way for an enhanced growth of international tourism.

As per the order dated 31 August, 2020 by the Office of District Magistrate, North Goa, there is no requirement for COVID-19 testing for travellers coming to Goa whether by road, rail or air. This is compulsory only for international passengers. Bars have opened, however ban on casinos and river cruises will continue.

The tourism department of Goa is investing in technology to capture tourists data and create personalised products. Menino D’souza, Director, Department of Tourism, says, “We are currently completing our data repository formulation and policies to that effect. We have realised that social media is going to be the next go-to travel agent. Culling out relevant information from there and analysing it, and not only analysing but coming out with a response system so that in case of any issues, we are able to respond immediately. Such intelligent systems have to be put in place. We are looking at replacing the personal touch with technology. AI-based interventions are something we are looking forward to in the coming few years.”

In a bid to expand its footprint in India, Sarovar Hotels & Resorts has plans to come up with 16 new properties by the end of 2019. With this move, it will be adding approximately 970 rooms to its current portfolio. As of now, the company has 6,000 rooms and manages three properties overseas and has a total of 73 hotels in the country. The upcoming hotels will be categorised under three brands— Sarovar Premiere, Sarovar Portico and Hometel Suites. These hotels will be located in multiple destinations which include Goa, Dehradun, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Udaipur, Junagadh, Dahisar, Dibrugarh, Morbi, Jammu, Bodh Gaya, and Dindi, among others. Amongst the 16 hotels, the majority will be under the Sarovar Portico brand, the hotel at Dahisar will be Hometel Suites brand while the property at Bodh Gaya will be under the Sarovar Premiere brand.

In 2018, Goa witnessed the largest signing of keys in India, according to statistics shared by HVS ANAROCK India Hospitality Industry Review 2018. The report revealed that a total of 2209 keys were signed in Goa, exceeding Bengaluru by a mere margin of 192 keys at 2017 keys in total for the Southern state. This was followed by Jaipur at 1282 keys and Mumbai at 1226 keys at third and fourth place respectively. Noida recorded 591 keys, while Lucknow was at 504, followed by Visakhapatnam at 487.