Online Travel Websites and Goa, Building that Niche

Online Travel Websites and Goa, Building that Niche

Goa has long been the destination of choice of many an Indian to escape from the perils of the urban society into a paradise of peace, tranquil and just the right place to re-energise yourself. From just being a land of beaches, Goa has grown to be a complete leisure destination with a vibrant night life, adventure activities and warm culture, not to forget its awesome cuisine.

Goa has always been a darling of all online travel websites as it is easier to market, it is well connected to all metros and its proximity to two major cities namely Mumbai and Bengaluru has also made it an exciting weekend getaway for all. Most resorts in Goa offer package deals that include airport transfers, halfboard or fullboard meals, sightseeing plus complimentary use of swiiming pools, gyms and special discounts at the spa or ayurvedic massages. This enable the online travel websites to directly promote the packages of such resorts more vigorously than others. Some of the online travel websites earn nearly half of their revenue from this destination alone.

The ease of promoting this destination has led to a tremendous number of players trying to grab the attention of the online customer. The emergence of regional Goa-specific websites has led to Goa been catered to in a much better way than the large national level Online Travel Websites. These regional players with their proximity to the hoteliers are in the position of bagging better discounts for the customers. Thus the online visitor is more than happy to patronise these websites. However its reaching a stage where the market is slowly reaching saturation with most websites offering the same content and bargains.

At a recent Online Travel Conference held at the ITC Grand Central, Mumbai, Most online travel Agents said that the customers have to be offered more avenues of interaction and participation in deciding what they read. The advent of Web 2.0 has seen the growing emergence of interactive tools being customised for the travel industry. Reviews, Vacation Pictures, Videos and Blogs have made their presence felt on these sites allowing visitors to mingle amongst fellow travellers.

There is a growing need to offer a niche in travel offerings especially in Goa where it has merely being sold as a Beach Destination, Goa has much to offer, A recent initiative by the Goa Tourism Development Corporation has seen it push Monsoon Tourism to a great extent, offering boat rides to Spice Plantations, Houseboat Stays, Forest Oneness Tours amongst many other options. Goa centric Websites also need to find means to stand out among the crowd that seem to gather round in cyberspace. Be it offering Videos or a whole new side of Goa that has never been experienced, Opening up our hinterlands for adventure and helping visitors finding their way using Map mashups or mobile interactivity, the need to reinvent themselves will be felt strongly shortly.

Although the rising inflation has hit the country, the hoteliers in Goa are accustomed to a poor off season. However if the trend continues through November, then it would definitely be panic buttons for the hoteliers. Online Travel Websites would be faster to offer last minute deals thus helping fill up the inventory. These sites have to gear up to push these last minute deals. Also if the same can be offered in unison with the airlines, then it would be a very attractive package to any holiday seeker. Also building a central repository of all the available rooms will help reduce overheads and helps push the destination much more stronger. Thus building such contigency plans will help the online travel industry push Goa to being India's Number 1 Holiday Destination.

Vernon Fernandes is a Working Partner at Team Inertia Technologies, a leading Web Design and Development Firm in Goa India. At this position, he has been instrumental in the evolution of many Goa centric Travel Websites and has always tried to find innovative ways to use technology to push Goa as an ultimate holiday destination. Team Inertia Technologies brings together a rich pool of talented Website Designers in Goa and Expert Web Developers in Goa to create more than 200 websites in a short span of 4 years. You can learn more about their services and portfolio at www.teaminertia.com