“Nearly 70 pc of our winter bookings are contracted, so we will naturally suffer 14 per cent losses from the lower dollar rate,” says Ralph D’Souza, president - Travel and Tourism Association of Goa.

But the 8-12 pc tariff hike and the strong domestic market would more than offset the losses, he agrees.
The number of charter tourists, 60 pc of them from Great Britain and 30 pc from Russia and the Scandinavian countries, will go up by 10 pc this year.

Nearly 780 charters, five flights a week from Moscow itself, have booked landing slots for the season, says D’Souza.

Despite heavy monsoon - Goa got over 145 inches of rain this year - few hoteliers here are complaining. Weddings, meetings, conferences and weekend breaks, ensured higher occupancy rates for Goa than ever before.

“In fact, we’ve had to turn back so many domestic tourists this Diwali because the rooms were already committed to foreign arrivals,” said D’Souza.

But Goa is increasingly turning from a winter destination for foreigners to an all-season getaway for Indians, say hoteliers here.

“A few years ago, 90 pc arrivals in winter were from abroad. This Christmas, 30 pc of those vacationing in Goa will be domestic arrivals,” says D’Souza. He expects the Indian market to mature all the more as domestic travel agents grow more professional and consolidate their position in the Goa tourism sector.