For a penny to Go-a

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   The new season in Indian Goa was marked by unprecedented low prices. The cheapest flight for the 12th of November, for example, cost $99 on the market, a package for a week- $299, excluding visa. According to experts, it was ‘Sunrise tour’ that trigged the offers. The company which has worked on the market for one season actually surpassed itself: initially it was announced that the minimal package of the firm would cost $499 (see news as of 20.10).
   For comments a BANKO correspondent addressed to ‘Sunrise’ itself. ‘The price is not plucked out of thin air,’ explains Dmitry Mazurov to a BANKO correspondent, general director of the company. ‘Each flight has its quotes based on cheap tariff or business-class, so, on the whole, the trip does not only consist of the cost of cheap flights. It is just there occurs a period of time when we can announce such an offer as it is more profitable than sending empty seats’.
   When evaluating the Goa market, representatives of other companies’ state that November and December are usually difficult months to sell. In the near future, as a consequence, the market can expect there to be changes in charter programs. ‘I foresee reduction of flights’, says Elena Malyisheva, director of tourism for ‘Goa Tour’. We remind you that this season, operators organize two flight programs for Goa: one is consolidated by UTE Megapolus group for ‘VIM-avia’ and ‘Sibir’, another – Lanta-tour voyage, Capital tour and ‘DEO’ for ‘Transaero’, while ‘Sunrise’ takes blocks from the latter. ‘We have three planes for Goa so far’, says Ksenia Ogienko, director of tourism at UTE Megapolus group. – ‘And it is possible that we will change one flight or arrange it for separate dates’.
   Changes are planned by representatives of the second charter block too. According to Tatiana Melnichenko, director of tourism in ‘DEO’ company, reduction of flights will take place for ‘Transaero’, contrary to what was agreed on earlier, from the 25th of November till the 23rd of December – instead of a Boeing747 there will be a Boeing-767.
   Nevertheless, experts are convinced that the aggressive pricing policy of ‘Sunrise’ will not be limited to separate ‘low’ dates but will cover the whole season, ‘As soon as they stop promoting cheap offers, interest in the company will drop,’ said a specialist who wished to stay anonymous. According to Tatiana Melnichenko, such policy does not only create a negative situation on the market but also may discredit the resort: Goa cannot be compared to Egypt or Turkey as it is a different level of service.
   Meanwhile, the trouble-maker does not consider its politics to be damping: according to Dmitry Mazurov, destinations that used to be small are not becoming more accessible to the public and less profitable.