He felt a slight nip in the air as he watched the amber light fade outside his office window in the bucolic Goan landscape. They were already in the first week of December, the festive season of Goa was not too far, but their revenue management software was throwing up hotel-room booking figures that were giving him the heebie-jeebies. Last year, during the same period, guests were briskly booking rooms at the same rate, infusing festive vigour into everything.
His information technology (IT) system had already once revised the room tariff downward – from Rs 60,000 per night to Rs 50,000 per night – but had failed to significantly move the needle. The software kept tinkering with the room prices to achieve healthy occupancy but, by now, it was clear something was amiss. Then, around Christmas, there was a spurt in room demand, pushing prices up to Rs 60,000 per night, but they began tumbling soon after – from Rs 40,000 per night, they fell to Rs 30,000 per night, and closer to December 31, his hotel was desperately selling rooms at Rs 28,000 per night.
This was somewhat the story at most luxury hotels in Goa, with a few exceptions. Is the romance of tourists with Goa waning? At first glance, it seems tourists are no longer ready to shell out the kind of prices they were paying a few years ago for a Goan experience , which many believe has deteriorated due to mismanagement of tourism in the State. There are fewer takers at higher prices.
Only a price correction could goa.
