From initially transporting small parcels around

the world, Vasco-based integrated sealand serVices

has added handling oF hazardous waste to its

portFolio oF serVices

| p2

aFter pursuing her loVe For journalism and

writing, gauri ghapure is now liVing the

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business

| p4Magazine for Business & Consumers

Monday January 5, 2015

C&B

On the back of a continuous lineup of events, dormitories in Goa are in great form. Festivals, school holidays, Exposition and New Year celebrations are helping them in

a big way and definitely much more than it is helping larger hotels. While standard hotels are facing the heat of low arrivals in the ongoing busy season, check-ins at dormitories are robust.

They offer basic sleeping and bathing facilities and are no-frills in facilities, but are clearly a step ahead in occupancy. Post New Year, the average occupancy for dormitories is in range of above 90 per cent while it is at least 15 per cent lesser for larger hotels.

Not surprising, this is a segment that is getting noticed by businessmen wanting a foothold in the tourism industry. New entrants are putting up better facilities to cater to a segment that they point out is loaded with potential. In the heart of Panaji city, near about Lawrence & Mayo and Sher-e-Punjab Classic, is the new Parekh Dormitory started by Yatin Parekh, ex mayor and CCP corporator. The ‘men only’ place provides single beds to travellers along with proper washrooms for guest cleanliness.

The dorm is a large hall comprising 30 beds spaced out properly and has AC from 7 p.m. - 7a.m. It is not bad a place to crash out at night. It also provides lockers with charges of Rs 400 per person which is almost double than what older dorms charge. A

businessman with a smart sense of commerce, Parekh says that he knows what business will click and where.

Good dorms, he adds, are a real need in the Panaji office area, which is why his place is doing well despite charging more. It was started in September last year, and in just three months of existence it is getting clientele from small travelling businessmen as well as single tourists, he says.

Another new entrant is the Basserra Dormitory in Campal. It completed a year and its charges rates vary between Rs 350 - Rs 450 per night (depending on off or peak season) and has taken off well, says owner Vijay who runs a consultancy firm. The place gets steady customers throughout the year and with AC plus neat environs is way ahead in hygiene, he adds.

Further, encouraged by the enthusiastic response to his ‘only men’ place and realizing the growth prospects, plans are to put up a women’s dorm in future. But the only thing that is holding him back is the security aspect.

Meanwhile, older dorms with very affordable pricing are faring well too, thanks to tourists with modest means. The year 2014, says Nector Dias, owner, Ananaz Hotel, Caranzalem, was spectacular thanks to tourists who came in copious numbers at nearly all times of the year.

Ananaz has two halls of 40 beds each and even has a cooking place where sightseers from other states

can make their own meals. The per night rate is extremely affordable at Rs 15-180 and the maximum that it goes up to is Rs 250 in peak season, says Dias. The dorms have no TV and AC but is a great hit with sightseers from the interior regions of Gujarat, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra who come down for a Goa visit, he adds. Dias is watchful of misbehavior. He takes in family groups and does not allow drinking or misconduct in any way.

A ground level check reveals that dorms are in existence in Margao, Vasco and Mapusa although several of them are in ramshackle state and can do with considerable upgrade in facilities. Panaji’s oldest dorm is the Central Lodge opposite to the Department of Health. A cavernous, Portuguese building, it continues to attract busloads of tourists each day despite little effort from the owners. Other older dorms around Panaji are Elrose in Taleigao and Shell Top Inn, St Cruz.

Shell Top, says owner Lenin Viegas, was started by his parents way back in 1984. It is perhaps the largest with a capacity of 300 beds placed in large halls as well as rooms. The beds are bunk beds, points out Viegas, with mattresses and pillows. Charges are low and the quality of guests seems to be of all kinds since there are families as well as rowdy single yokels.

Running a dorm is obviously profitable, says Viegas, as he is able to get ahead in the hospitality industry through the earnings. Recently, he set up a proper hotel with rooms and a second 3-star hotel is also in the offing. The dormitory business will continue, he adds.

Besides private players, Youth Hostel and GTDC also operate dormitories. GTDC’s dorm in Britona and Farmagudi has 80 and 24 beds respectively. It caters to large student groups and gets tourists seasonally, point out GTDC officials.

Running a dorm, says Vijay of Basserra, is profitable as it is no hassle compared to owning a hotel. There are no rooms to clean and therefore no outgo on staff salaries. Tourism in Goa is seasonal but thanks to smart tie-ups with 5-star hotels and offices, he gets car drivers of rich individuals. Pharmaceutical companies also provide round-the-year clientele through medical reps. IFFI, continues Vijay, is another time of the year when the dorm is full, he says.

A dormitory, explains Dias, is lucrative in volumes and older players like him cater to the busloads of tourists who arrive each day. Repeat customers are many and word of mouth is important in the segment. Also, important are contacts with bus tour operators

who organise charter holidays for the masses. The cost element in dormitories, adds Viegas, is in

laundry of bed sheets, electricity and water. While the first two are not much, water can be a major expense since bus tourists arrive with huge number of dirty clothes and get down to using bucketful of water to wash clothes. Abroad, he adds, dormitories do not allow guests to remain indoors at all hours, however, here an owner can do nothing if a guest sleeps and drinks in the bed the whole day. But most dormitory guests, says Viegas, are by and large no trouble as they go out in the morning and come back only in the evening after playing at the beach or doing the north-south tours.

More dormitories in Goa are needed, opine tourism experts, to avoid the car-bound tourists who come in for the weekend and live-eat at the beaches or fields. They dirty the state and leave a mess which can be avoided if there are more dormitories to cater to people with meager means. The segment also needs regulating as there are unregistered dorms along the beach belt where home owners let beds placed in a single room. Touts who undercut is another problem.

The segment, says Dias, is very price sensitive and sometime back faced a huge setback when the government raised the passenger tax for buses from Rs 60 per person to Rs 330 in 2012. That year, remembers Dias, dormitory owners faced losses as tour operators cancelled at the last moment and turned their buses away from Goa border.

Currently, the passenger tax is Rs 150 for 2x2 seating and Rs 300 for a sleeper, but lowering it would safeguard low budget tourism, says Dias.

Although new dorms are coming up, older players are getting disinterested being in the business because of the need to move on to the next level in the tourism industry. Dorms get travellers even in the lean season of monsoons and therefore is the most dependable section of tourism in Goa, says Dias. Running a dorm has made him meet diverse people from across India and brush up on Hindi which is the national language

It is foolish to categorise dormitories as low-end tourism, says Vijay, because they are needed and business is all about margins or returns. The payoff from dormitories is attractive with income more than the expense, he avers.

While tourism on a whole in the state is facing a slump, dormitories offer-ing basic bed and bathing are doing well. As a result, the lucrative seg-

ment is now attracting new players, finds out SHOMA PATNAIK