'It's a sad story' Condor pulling out of Goa

‘It’s a sad story’ 

Herald Review December 28, 2014

Uwe Balser, Managing Director Condor talks to Herald Review about pulling out his last Frankfurt- Goa flight this season. This will be the first year the airline- which brought in approximately 25,000 tourists during a single season and has been operating for over three decades- will not be coming to the State.

LISA ANN MONTEIRO

What was the reason for pulling out of Goa?

We go to a destination to earn money. Condor just didn’t make a profit on this route anymore. The airport fees are too high, higher than any other airport worldwide that we are presently flying to including Frankfurt. We also wanted to park the aircraft at the airport which was not possible. We’ve been asked to take our aircraft out overnight which means we had to get our crew and aircraft out of the country to Sharjah or any other place and come back the next morning to take the passengers back. If we were given the allowance to park in one corner in the airport for a few hours, then we wouldn’t have had additional fuel costs and crew costs. This made it much more expensive for us. The passengers we were getting to Goa were no more the ones who were willing to pay a decent amount of money to compensate for these high costs.

Can you tell us about the profile of tourists Condor brought in?

 We would bring in approximately 25,000 tourists in one season. The Germans are normally not only interested in the beach and sun but are also interested in culture, heritage, ayurvedic medicines and nature. Those who are only interested in the beach and sun go to the Caribbean or Domonican Republic. Nature is a very big part for Germans. They want to see some kind of diversity that the country offers and India has a big advantage over other countries and States. For example if you go to places in Africa or Dominican Republic you have a hotel complex, a huge wall around it and people don’t walk out. India is still a very safe and relaxed place. The elderly people in Germany are very fit and strong and they maintain their health and like to see things. They may stay near the beach but they always do day trips to spice gardens, go on nature walks. They are also interested in how things work and how things developed and how people lived in the past. That’s typical German I would say. We also brought in students and people who wanted to have a relaxed atmosphere at clubs. It was always a mixed group.

Where are these tourists going now?

There are new places coming up further East like Kuala Lumpur and Vietnam. Thailand is still very strong and like India offers many things including the beach and good food and it’s safe too. Goa is still unique within India. You will have people going to Delhi, Rajasthan and Kerala but these are the ones who are only interested in specialties in culture or health. Goa has the sun and beach and all the rest and is still the best place to go to when you want to have a holiday.

How has pulling out of Goa affected your profits?

That’s the sad story. Taking our flights out of Goa has increased our income because we sent these aircrafts to other destinations where we could earn more money. We always calculate route profitability and start with the best destinations with all our 41 aircrafts. Last year we opened up Cape Town and this year Fortaleza in Brazil besides a few destinations in US and Canada and they are all more profitable than our routes to India. In the end we have to earn money in order to keep jobs, it’s not social work what we’re doing. I love India, my wife is Indian and I would do everything to keep the aircraft here but I can’t.

How will this affect Goa?

It’s as if you’re in the dessert and the water has been taken out. It’s very difficult to get it back. To open up a new route and getting traffic rights is a cumbersome process. Whatever you initialize requires lots of energy in order to get something out of it. To maintain something is much easier. There must be marketing funds but I haven’t seen Goa being promoted in Germany for a long time now.

What deters the Germans from coming to the State?

Don’t get me wrong, I love India but what hurts me is to see beautiful nature getting spoilt by garbage and this is something that really takes German tourists away. Just as you leave the airport you see piles of garbage. Germans are all nature oriented. We come from a time where we were in the same situation when we didn’t treat our garbage and all our rivers were dirty but overtime we have developed something to sustain in a small little country like ours where the garbage is easily visible. India is so vast you always think it will digest anything. But it will not and after a while it will spit out all the dirt again.

Have there been problems with obtaining visas in the past?

What’s important for passengers is to have a simple process for entering the country. An easier process manned immigration places where you don’t have to line up for two hours after a long flight. The visa is quite high and it takes an effort in Germany. Elderly people find it difficult to do it on the internet. So the visa on arrival just introduced is something good which will have a big advantage.

Goa has been hit this year with Russian tourists too not visiting.

What I miss and what I feel is that the diversity of tourists coming to Goa has changed a lot. I would always say it’s better to go for diversity when it comes to the tourists you’re attracting in order to keep your eggs in many baskets. If the Russians aren’t coming like they used to at least you have others. Perhaps it was political I don’t know but they were happy about the increase in tourists but they never figured they were all coming from one destination and now they’re in trouble and suddenly screaming what has happened, as if it wasn’t clear from the beginning. I would suggest go back and see what diversity you can offer and promote it again to those tourists you would like to have in your State.

What does Goa need to do to improve?

There’s not much to do. I’ll start with what I like. I enjoy the nature and the old city. Walking in Old Goa feels like I’m walking in Lisbon in history. It’s much easier compared to other countries as you already have everything. You just have to offer it in a proper way and maintain the old things you’ve got. For example Benaulim is one of the nicest villages I know but close to the beach there are these typical one bedroom flats coming up in a horrible way and these ruin the surroundings. In streets near the beach there are already places where you can’t see nature anymore. Maintain what you have and put things in which will not destroy this beauty. That’s the idea behind it. Don’t build huge roads through nature. One good route north- south is enough and leave the charm of the beach roads. You already have all these attractions. Not building on the beach is a fantastic idea so keep it that way. You may attract a couple of people for a while by further reducing prices and making them stay there but after a while they will get bored because all they see is concrete. I’m completely against this way of ruining your own nature and culture. Other things that get on my nerves are that I constantly have to show my driver’s license when traffic cops stop me because I have a different number plate. Or when I go to a restaurant when the name and menu is only in Russian. It’s a bit like they’re welcome and others are not. This is completely different from the nature of the India I know where people are welcoming. There are so many places where you feel insecure like Africa and Brazil where you cannot leave your compound. India is still safe and lovely.

Are the Germans still interested in coming to Goa? What will it take for Condor to restart operations here?

Of course there are many Germans still interested in coming to Goa. We have to attract them again and go in for diverse tourists from all over Germany who are able to spend and want to spend money so that the airlines can earn more. At the same time we would need support by reducing the costs through initiatives where perhaps the government says no landing fees for the first season if you come back in the next three- four seasons, just to attract us back. That would straight away reduce our costs and allow us to begin earning money and as soon as we can earn money we can come back. We can start with one flight a week and then increase the number if it attracts more people. We can always restart if we get the necessary support. But you have to be more attractive than other destinations because I cannot go to two destinations with one aircraft.

Review Bureau

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