State considering freeze on budget hotels to move away from mass tourism, says Khaunte

Panaji: In an attempt to move away from mass-market tourism, the tourism department is toying with the idea of freezing registration of new budget hotels in Goa, said tourism minister Rohan Khaunte.

Khaunte, who described the budget hotels as a challenge, said that existing C and D category hotels and guesthouses will simultaneously be nudged to upgrade themselves to offer better services and amenities at a higher price point.

“The biggest challenge for govt today is in the C and D category,” said Khaunte.

“Inventory of C and D category hotels has gone so high in the last couple of years that they cannot get footfalls at those rates. But the upper-category hotels are being filled up. Upgrading the existing C and D category hotels can get them better revenues.”

“We were talking about quality over quantity, and if you see the inventory, the four-star and five-star resorts seem to be very comfortable in terms of selling their rooms at that particular price, whereas in the lower category of rooms, you find people having challenges selling those rooms at that particular price. It is premature for us to announce anything, but we need to sit with the industry and Travel and Tourism Association of Goa to understand how we can make things better,” said the tourism minister after a lengthy discussion with tourism stakeholders.

Khaunte said that a concrete decision is expected after a fortnight.

Meanwhile, anticipating a jump in events in Goa due to PM Modi’s clarion call to host weddings and conferences domestically, the department plans to put in place a dedicated single-window system under a MICE bureau to provide expedited clearances for destination weddings, musical concerts, conferences, business events and other mega festivals.

“The Centre has told us to form a MICE promotion bureau under the tourism department, which we are already in the process of forming, which will allow us to aggressively market conventions, corporate events, global meetings, weddings through a single window. This will help the industry,” said Khaunte.

He said that the MICE Promotion Bureau will be constituted within a month.