Fisherman's Cove sees higher patronage in store

The resort which recently added a spa facility to provide aroma therapy along with state-of-the-art gymnasium, has witnessed considerable patronage from visitors both within and outside the country.

The cost of the new spa along with the gym has been around Rs.35 lakh. Close to 65 per cent of the visitors to Fish Cove are domestic and the rest from abroad.

The resort has also added, Machan, a small sea-facing elevation that would specifically address the get-together needs of both corporate and family functions.

Gitesh Aggarwal, the sales manager, Fish Cove said, "the average billing per person for events at Machan can be as little as Rs 450. This comes at a very economical price considering cities like Delhi and Mumbai where the average cost per person in similar resorts could be as high as Rs 1,300 to Rs 2,000."

The resort, spread over 22 acres along the east coast (Bay of Bengal), provides 88 dwelling units of which 10 of them are luxury villas. The sea-facing villas have in recent past found patronage from the movie business.

Samir Khanna, the general manager at Fish Cove, said, "some of the leading lights from Bollywood stay at our villas regularly."

The dwellings have been priced at an average of Rs 4,500 to Rs 8,000. The revenue from the resort was around Rs 18 crore.

Khanna said, "the power bills which is close to 18 per cent of our total revenue is the second biggest expense head, next only to staff cost." He said considerable effort had also gone into keeping the power bills low.

"The Fish Cove has traditionally been the pioneer among the Taj Group in adopting cost saving system in terms of energy," he said.

Khanna said, "the cut in luxury tax to 12.5 per cent from an high of 35 per cent by the Tamil Nadu government has also resulted in considerable saving for guests as well as the resort."