North Goa has always been a happening destination for the Desi (Domestic) Tourists and they prefer to visit Calangute, Vagator and Anjuna but in the bargain south Goa always comes in the second place for most of them.
The Shack operators in south Goa has been witnessing a very poor footfalls of domestic tourists despite the fact that a huge bunch of tourists arriving into the state after the lifting of Covid norms.
According to the reports, at any given day the table have remained unoccupied in many shacks in south Goa. The operators of shacks in Salcete has been complaining of sluggish business despite the tourist flow thronging the beaches.
The weekend although remains an exception in this case. “Tourists prefer purchasing food and beverages and sit on the sand rather than patronise the shacks,” said a Shack operator ion south Goa.
According to Vipin Trivedi, who runs a shack on Benaulim beach, domestic tourists comes for vacation in the state on all inclusive packages, “That is the main reason behind they not visiting the shacks for Food and beverages,” he said.
The business has no boundaries and unlimited possibilities and many shack operators are practicing the new ways to make money. Some shack operators have started organising a weekend Baazars while other would lease out the property for private parties in the weekends.
At Colva, tables are set up almost 20m away from the shacks closer to the sea in the evenings “We had to adapt to the change. All of us thought the Covid-19 pandemic was a passing phase, but we did not realise until it struck us hard. With no foreigners, we have to cater to the domestic tourists to get as much business as possible so as to recover costs,” a shack owner said.
As per the tourism policy, shacks have to wind up operations by May 31. With a month and half left for the season, one operator in Benaulim expressed doubts of breaking even. “A lot of money is needed to set up the structure, pay employees and manage other overheads like power, water, and stock. Business is extremely slow,” he said.
