Goa's five-star hotel rates are likely to scale a new peak next fortnight, say industry sources. With increased air-connectivity and increasing number of Russian tourists, room-rates are higher by around 20 per cent from last year, with deluxe rooms going for around Rs 20,000 per night and five-star rates hovering around the Rs 15,000-mark.
Traditionally, between October and December, ahead of the New Year rush, the room rents almost double in Goa hotels. This year is no exception. The 20 per cent hike is on top of that.
Park Hyatt, the biggest five-star deluxe resort in the country, has increased its list-rate to Rs 25,000 for the last days of the year, up from around Rs 12,000 in the month of October.
Kenilworth resorts, one of the oldest players in the five-star segment, too have seen rates shoot-up from Rs 7,000 three months ago, to Rs 14,000 for the last week of December.
"The rates have been increasing for the last two years," says R S Singh, Kenilworth's general manager for the state, adding, "and this year, the rates are around 20 per cent higher than last year in the four, five and five-star deluxe categories."
Goa, which has around 1,800 hotel rooms in the three segments, traditionally sees a rush for rooms towards the year-end, but high-end visitor numbers have been on the rise throughout the year, says Singh.
"The biggest change has been, the Russians. From a small group, which landed here in 2002, they today make up around a sixth of all visitors to the state. Today, if you look at the five-star hotels in the south of the state, 30 per cent of the rooms are occupied by Russians," he says.
"We sense an increase of 25 per cent in the number of foreign visitors this year," agrees Anirban Sengupta of the Park Hyatt, which has rolled out a huge "entertainment zone" at its 45-acre compound at Cansaulim in South Goa.
The zone, divided into six traditional Indian atmospheres, is targeted almost wholly at foreign tourists, who are expected to make up most of the guests during the high-priced days of the year-end.
Kenilworth, with their normal rates of around Rs 7,000 a night, usually has 90 per cent guests from inside the country. "This time of the year, it is just the reverse, with domestic tourists making up only around 10 per cent," says Singh.
While bookings for the Christmas-New Year season was already over by the beginning of December itself, industry officials point to a more "flattening" trend in arrivals in last two years. "A couple of years ago, it used to be mainly a winter business. Occupancies in April to September were in the range of 30 to 40 per cent and gradually picking up after that," says Sengupta.
This year, thanks to better connectivity by air, except for a month and a half during the peak monsoon season around June, occupancies have been around 70 to 75 per cent through out. Now, instead of the four or five flights a day three years ago, there are 25 flights.
Meanwhile, hotels in Mumbai too, reported an increase in the year-end bookings. From the traditional 60 per cent range, most hotels, especially the ones known for big year-end bashes, reported slightly better rates this year.
"We have noticed a marked increase in the number of bookings by Indians," said Julian R Groom, general manager, The Royal Meridian.