Restaurants near the shores gear up for a business comeback

Last year, the f&b industry situated near the shore regions agonized over a dearth of Christmas and new year footfall. However, a lot can happen over the year. As the year moves towards its end, the hospitality industry as a whole is excited for the coming holiday season and hoping for a strong business comeback. With hotels fully booked for the upcoming holidays to many new brands already announcing their launches, the beach destination of India looks promising.

In the beach destinations like Goa and Pondicherry, there is a 10 percent to 14 percent surge in flight passengers in Q4 as compared with Q3. Especially for last year, the ratio came to 113 percent post the first lockdown. Hotels in such regions are also witnessing 75 to 85 percent of bookings. This rings the bells for all the f&b stakeholders in those destinations to tap the growing demand and upcoming tourist crowd.

The Bennet and Bernard Company recently launched the Black Vanilla Café in Assagao, which provides international cuisines to the food connoisseur.  The newly opened cafe is expecting good footfalls as tourism has re-emerged. “Goa’s tourism season usually begins with the retreating monsoon and as winter sets in across the northern hemisphere, Goa is the preferred destination to celebrate Christmas and New Year. Moreover, the government announced grant of fresh visas to tourists visiting India via chartered flights starting October 15. We are excited about the announcement as it has brought in a sense of relief to the Goa tourism industry, struggling since the pandemic,” Lindsay Bernard Rodrigues, CEO and Co-Founder, The Bennet and Bernard Company commented.

These are exciting times as most of the Indians will look to Goa due to limited options abroad. The holiday season in Goa also coincides with the opening up of Indian borders for foreign tourists after a 20-month clampdown due to the outbreak of Covid. “This augurs well for the economy, f&b industry and tourism sector at large. With Sunburn also taking place in Goa now we expect tourism to be 5X by end of the year.The entire family crowd will go South and the party people will go North,” Sharath Rice, Restaurant Operations COO & Director – VRO Hospitality shared.

With more people now coming to Goa, the vibrant restaurant business will pick up sharply with high demand for its multi-cuisine culture in post-pandemic times and the upcoming holiday season. 

Majestic Pride Group of Hotels & Casinos situated in Goa is getting flooded with enquiries and are ready to welcome the guests offering them a safe, healthy and fun-filled vacay. Commenting on their f&b offerings Director Rahul Khetrapal informed that team is brimming with lucrative deals and offers. 

“We plan to have specially crafted multi-cuisine buffet, international selection, live-counters of our renowned dishes, traditional Indian feast, both complemented with an array of handcrafted mocktails and cocktails, to suit the flavour palate of our guests. So be prepared to groove to the beat of live entertainment with lavish world cuisine spread, drinks with a festive touch keeping Christmas in mind,” he added.

While Goa is all geared up, other beach destinations like Pondicherry is on the verge of getting houseful this year. A homestay owner situated near Serenity Beach commented that this year his homestay is fully booked from 15th Dec till 15th Jan 2022. “Looking at the demand I raised the price from early INR 7000 to now INR 10000 per day, little did I know that people are willing to pay more but to get into the beach destinations for this year-end,” he added further informing that many new restaurants and cafes are popping up while some planning to have a grand launch on 25th of December.

Les Cafe situated in the White Town is busy building its patio area which can accommodate an extra of 25 people. The owner is aggressively working towards getting the work done by this month-end. “After almost two years of a business slowdown, I cannot miss this opportunity, We have also hired extra staff for this coming holiday season

Unlike the older times though, multiple Covid-19 safety protocols have to be in place to enjoy the pleasures of the land of sun, beaches and cuisine.