After lean Christmas, Goa tourism scene looks up for New Year

With beaches and party spots in Goa teeming with visitors ahead of the New Year, the local tourism industry is now hoping to cover up the losses it had suffered in lacklustre Christmas season.

In Goa, all-night New Year parties along the 105-km shoreline start from the evening a few hours earlier and continue till morning the next day or sometimes even till January 2.

Lanes leading to beaches villages in North Goa, like Calangute, Candolim, Sinquerim, Baga and Keri, Morjim are the main party arenas with crowds thronging in their thousands.

Industry body Travel and Tourism Association of Goa president Savio Messias told PTI the New Year season has so far been "not so bad, not so good".

"Hotel occupancy is satisfactory at 80 per cent, with some establishments touching 95-100 per cent mark. However, the mid-segment and luxury hotels are not making much," said Messias.

Shack Owners' Welfare Society president Cruz Cardoso claimed tourists are flocking to the beaches, with a sizable number being that of Russians and Britons.

"This is peak season in Goa and we are sure it will help revive tourism in the state to a certain extent. The crowd is less compared to last year but it will compensate for the lull during Christmas this year," said Cardoso.

Calangute hotelier Inacio Pereira also expressed hope that this year too the state will see heavy tourist footfalls and bumper-to-bumper traffic on the roads.

"People start coming in a little early so that they get time to prepare for New Year," Pereira said.

Goa, among the country's top tourism magnets, has a population of 15 lakh, of which some 27 per cent is Christian, many of them celebrating New Year by attending Mass that begins at 11pm on December 31 and culminates at 1am on January 1.