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Delhites Turn their Back on Goa this New Year due to a steep price rise in Hotels and Air travel

Goa gets a huge amount of tourist flow from the North India and Delhi takes the major share into that, but this year, the Delhites
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Goa gets a huge amount of tourist flow from the North India and Delhi takes the major share into that, but this year, the Delhites seems to have shied away from attending the new year parties in Goa. What was the reason behind the sudden downturn? Let us take a look at this…

The coastal state has observed a sharp decline in Tourists this New Year. What used to be a hyped up tourists destination spot has received decreasing tourist influx and has been overlooked this time by the domestic tourists.

Goa received a majority of tourists from the parts of North India, especially Delhi. It is shocking to see that this has reduced by 50% this year. Instead, the Delhites resorted to other destinations like Bhutan, Bali, and Hampi.

Most of them decided to stay in the capital and have a house party. Various questions pop up in this scenario. Is Goa losing its charm? Is this due to the change in the policies? If not, what are the reasons behind these fewer tourist footfalls?

A few years back, Goa was one such destination that every traveler would look for.  The laid-back nature and the amazing parties fascinated people around the country and even the world.

In the month of December and with New Year’s approaching, Goa would put on its party mode. We need not go into the details of what goes on in Goa during the New Year’s and we do know that it’s one thing that every party animal would not miss.

Delhites especially would look forward to Goa during this time. But the capital seems to have turned away from the coastal state this year. What used to be an ideal vacation spot for these travelers is now just an over-hyped state.

The overprices hotels, hiked airfares and lack of events like sunburn and supersonic had led to reductions in the traffic from north India this year. Even the defective tourism policy is the reason behind low footfall this year.

According to the tour operators from Delhi, the over-priced hotels, airfares and even the transport is the main reason why they received fewer bookings for Goa, this year.

With the tourist peak season approaching during the times of New Year’s, hotels and cabs tend to increase their prices, this has caused to major fall in tourist footfalls.  Another reason lies at the fact that the pubs and shacks get overcrowded.

A representative from the Swan Tours in Delhi states that “Those who used to go to Goa don’t want to anymore as they feel it gets overcrowded in the last week of December, and the prices are very high, not just for flights and hotel bookings, but also for simply getting around Goa. If people have to spend that kind of money, why wouldn’t they travel to a better location like Bhutan, Bali or Thailand? In fact, there were many bookings for Hampi this year, as well. When people travel for the New Year, they want to go and explore new destinations, and some are beginning to feel that Goa is overhyped.”

Due to these reasons, Thailand came around as a better option due to cheap airfares. It was also due to the refraining of the visa on arrival fee for 20 countries including India; people were excited to visit Thailand. They felt they can spend the same amount of money traveling overseas and plan a better holiday rather than spending it in Goa.

Those who used to go to Goa don’t want to anymore as they feel it gets overcrowded in the last week of December, and the prices are very high, not just for flights and hotel bookings, but also for simply getting around Goa. If people have to spend that kind of money, why wouldn’t they travel to a better location like Bhutan, Bali or Thailand?

Speaking on the same, Pankaj Patel, owner of 65 villas and four hotels in Goa, confirmed a drop in bookings this year. He stated “In December 2018, the number of reservations we had from people from Delhi was far smaller than the last year. The only bookings for last week of December from Delhi were those that were made almost a month or two in advance.”

One more reason that has a caused a major concern is hooliganism. In recent years, there have been cases of violent behavior in the parties; this has caused a security threat to the tourists. People want to enjoy their time here and party without any hesitations. But with these cases in light, people worry about their safety. Besides these, drunk driving also spikes up during these times and people generally feel unsafe driving around with traffic around them.

It is indeed disappointing to know the Delhites consider Goa as an over-hyped destination with its over-booked, over-priced clubs, hotels and cab fares. The tourism department has taken up the responsibility to bring down the prices to reasonable amounts and also take necessary steps to improve tourism in Goa and restore its glory.

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