Luxury Is More Than Just Rich Interiors & Serene Beaches

In the heart of Goa, Caravela Beach Resort weaves a three-decade legacy. Sourav Panchanan, General Manager, Caravela Beach Resort, unravels the resort's distinctive offerings from weddings against Arabian Sea backdrops to experiential family-friendly activities. He delves into the resort's commitment to sustainability. As travel trends evolve, Panchanan outlines Caravela's tech-infused journey, leveraging data to create personalised and distinguished experiences.

Excerpts:

How does Caravela Beach Resort distinguish itself in terms of offering a unique and memorable stay for visitors?

Caravela Beach Resort is Goa's one of the first few luxury five-star hotels, and the only independent, single-ownership property in South Goa that has strengthened its Indian roots for over 30 years

The hotel was designed by the world-renowned architects, ‘WATG’ & ‘BELT COLLINS’ depicting Goan-Portuguese architecture. It has a 275-meter-long beachfront to the Varca beach on the shores of the Arabian Sea, which was ranked amongst the Top 10 beaches in Asia by TripAdvisor in the past. Caravela has 199 rooms sprawled over 24 acres of refreshing green. It is named after the first Portuguese ship Vasco Da Gama to sail into Goa, symbolising the spirit of a pioneer.

The hotel is known for its Dream Weddings. The spectacular location at the shores of the Arabian Sea offers stunning backdrops, paired with seamless service for the bride and groom’s special day.

It is a first choice for kids featuring a revolving schedule of activities year-round, combining playtime with experiential learning. The hotel has a dedicated focus on well-being and yoga. Guests can recharge with guided yoga sessions, pampering spa treatments, professional beauty treatments or simply an indulgent foot massage at the beach.

Dining at Caravela is an elaborate experience with four Restaurants and multiple bars. The ‘Swim-Up Pool Bar’ and the beachfront restaurant ‘Beach Hut’ (Seasonal) are especially popular with guests. You can leave it to the chefs there to bowl you over with the freshest catch-of-the-day, Goan delicacies and more along with authentic kebabs while taking in the mesmerising sounds of the immense blue sea. You can watch one of the best sunsets at the Sunset Bar with your favourite cocktail in your hand.

What are the key strategies employed to maintain high levels of guest satisfaction and loyalty?

A satisfied guest always comes back and brings in more guests. Word of mouth has been Caravela's major promotional strategy over the years. We try to keep it simple by offering attentive and customised guest service. We train our team to problem-solve and offer alternative solutions when we cannot meet a specific request.

We also find our guests increasingly placing importance on the public spaces within the resort. They are noticing the various venues available that are relaxing and attractive at the same time. We have been working on creating comfortable spaces, particularly at the beachfront where we offer a restaurant and a bar with a deck offering elevated uninterrupted views of the sea and majestic sunsets.

We do offer an engaging loyalty and amenity program for our repeat guests encompassing priority early check-ins and late check-outs, a single point of contact throughout the stay, complimentary foot massage, luxury bath set-up, and evening cocktails.

Finally, we actively engage with our guests before they arrive, during their stay and after they depart to obtain feedback at every stage. This helps us with valuable insights to tailor our products and services while meeting the dynamic needs of our guests.

With the rise of experiential travel, how does Caravela incorporate local culture and traditions into its offerings to provide guests with an authentic Goan experience?

We pride ourselves in offering the authentic Goan experience. The resort strategically blends modern comfort with a touch of Goan charm, immersing guests in a unique cultural experience. From the architecture that mirrors traditional Goan aesthetics to curated activities like cultural performances and culinary classes, guests immerse themselves in the rich heritage.

Whether you’re looking for poolside bites at Castaways or a journey through authentic Goan delicacies at Beach Hut, and exquisite Pan-Asian delights at Carnival, we have something to satisfy every palate using locally sourced ingredients.

We celebrate traditional festivals and rituals, providing guests with a first-hand experience of Goan traditions. Moreover, the staff, deeply rooted in the local culture, offer genuine insights and warm hospitality. This holistic integration of local elements caters to the burgeoning trend of experiential travel, allowing guests to not just visit Goa but truly engage with its cultural tapestry during their stay at Caravela Beach Resort.

At Caravela, we understand luxury is more than rich interiors, excellent service and serene beaches. True luxury is about purposeful experiences and capturing that beautiful memory is what we strive for. It’s our privilege to help you experience this each time you’re our guest. Stunning sunsets over magical beaches, beautiful and dramatic coastlines, deep, hidden waterfalls and incredible sanctuaries, are all waiting for you on your next tour of South Goa.

Recognising that almost half (45 per cent) of travellers prefer to sample local cuisine through the property’s gourmet dining, we offer authentic Goan food and curated Goan food masterclasses, Feni cocktail-making sessions and Chef’s tables.

We also work with local tour experts to create immersive experiences. One of our local tour experts that specialises in offbeat tourism curate unique experiences around concepts like Nature, Heritage, Food, Architecture, Culture etc. These experiences are typically 3-4 hours in duration and have 4-5 experience points in them. A perfect blend of exciting stories, enthralling activities, and mesmerising views that present a never-seen-before side of Goa.

By partnering with such local tour experts, we aim to provide a deeper understanding of Goa where we operate, enriching the experiential aspects of travel.

Additionally, a local e-cycling tour partner helps our guests explore South Goa’s ultimate natural playgrounds up close. Many of us have been discovering or re-discovering the pleasures of cycling in recent months and it’s a wonderful way to see and experience all that the local landscape has to offer. Guests can cycle right from the gate of the Caravela to the local trails of the nearby Varca village and its surroundings.

These additions not only demonstrate our commitment to elevating the guest experience but also open up new revenue streams and opportunities for cross-promotion with our partners. By diversifying our offerings and collaborating with established providers, we are poised to attract a broader range of guests.

Sustainability is a growing concern globally. How is Caravela contributing to eco-friendly practices and responsible tourism?

Caravela as an organisation has been operating with integrity, transparency, and accountability, considering the interests of its shareholders, and stakeholders and adhering to ethical standards since its opening and subsequent operation over 3 decades.

Recently, Caravela in its commitment to sustainability made a big investment of over INR 1.25 Crore purchasing a fleet of environment-friendly vehicles. It was a proud moment to take this step towards reducing our carbon footprint and doing our part to protect the planet.

The new guest Coaches are BS VI compliant and use AdBlue fuel ensuring that harmful exhaust gases are treated. Whereas the new Hybrid vehicles use the most advanced 5th Generation Self-charging Hybrid Electric Technology reducing emissions. Caravela is always exploring ways to become eco-friendly. It's the right thing to do for the environment and future generations.

In addition, the hotel has invested and is on its way, to installing an on-site water bottling plant that will help eliminate single-use plastic bottled drinking water and will replace it with reusable glass bottles for all its 199 guest rooms, restaurants, bars and event spaces.

How does Caravela gather and utilise guest feedback to continuously improve its services?

Dealing with guest conflict or anticipating preferences are some of the difficult challenges we frequently face; if poorly managed, an on-property complaint can escalate to a bad online review and negative reviews can frighten prospective guests away and put a permanent scar on the reputation and revenue of your business.

We take help from our technology partners by harnessing the potential of guest feedback related to bookings, and guest preferences and witness positive shifts in our KPIs. Some of the areas where we use the gathered intelligence are profiling and personalised offers, optimising hotel amenities and services, efficient budgeting and resource allocation, enhancing operational efficiency and staff productivity, tracking feedback and online reputation management.

Analysing guest feedback helps us meet guest demands proactively. It also gives us a comprehensive view of competitor insights and emerging trends that impact our bottom line.

Travel trends are evolving, with an increasing focus on digital experiences. How does Caravela utilise technology to enhance the guest journey?

In hotels, it's no longer just about food, service, hygiene and ambience, but replicating exemplary customer experience at every touch point through the customer lifecycle while adopting and implementing digital and artificial intelligence solutions and we at Caravela are no different.

To cater to the changing needs of the discerning traveller, we use technology-driven areas like cloud and social media to serve the customer better. One of our key areas is the Caravela website, then there is an online review management solution and social media that helps us monitor all the relevant conversations. Over the years, technology has made Caravela proactive while embracing tech as a way of life.

What do your experiential endeavours look like in FY 2024-25?

According to popular travel predictions, 69 per cent of Indian travellers claim that they didn’t realise the importance of travel on their health until the pandemic. As we move into the H2 of 2023-24, Goa has shown a tremendous recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic lows and offers plenty of reasons to be optimistic as we look ahead to 2024-25. Some of the key trends that we expect are the continued rise in domestic travel and many people opting to drive given the improved national highway infrastructure, a good example is the revamped NH66 is set to be operational cutting down travel time from Mumbai/Pune to Goa substantially, encouraging shorter breaks. Guests are increasingly aware of their carbon footprint and demanding environment-friendly, socially responsible steps from the hotels while deciding to book. An increase in leisure travel is expected as business travellers are actively looking to add a day or two to unwind at the end of the business meeting. Holidays by train are gaining popularity with the induction of sought-after Vande Bharat connectivity. Personalisation of travel experiences with AI will play an increasingly important role and the growing interest in experiential travel where hotels offer immersive and authentic experiences, and local cuisines based on local produce are most likely to be the preferred destinations.

Similarly, there are challenges like uncertainty due to geo-political reasons, related stress in the supply chain and shortage of skilled labour that is consistently escalating the cost of business and impacting reputation.

To conclude, there has never been a better time to travel with all the insight today’s traveller has and a competitive market ready with unique experiences to offer. For hotels, the opportunities are plenty as long as we are ready to embrace the new trends of travel and hospitality and enable technology to make the connection.