As bars likely to reopen, Kerala tourism industry too presses for reopening

While the Kerala government is actively considering the option of reopening bars, the tourism industry, one of the key revenue earners for the state, is pressuring the government to reopen the tourism sector also.

Over 4,000 hotels, resorts, 1,000 plus houseboats, scores of ayurvedic centres, tour operators, homestay owners, taxi drivers, tourist guides, water theme parks, and adventure tourism sectors are in dire financial constraints, due to the continuous lockdown of the tourist. More than 15 lakh people are directly and 20 lakh people indirectly working in the tourism sector, industry bodies point out.

Owing to the lockdown, the state tourism industry was estimated to have suffered a loss of Rs. 25,000 crore, while the annual revenue from the sector is around Rs. 45,000 crore. The state government recently announced support scheme of Rs. 455 crore.

Confederation of Kerala Tourism Industry urged the state government to allow the hospitality, Ayurveda and wellness sectors to be allowed to operate by adhering to Covid-19 protocols and mandatory Covid-19 test.

CKTI president E M Najeeb said that it was a welcome move from the government to consider reopening bars. A similar initiative was essential for the tourism sector also as the industry is in deep crisis. Many other states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Goa and Maharashtra opened the tourism sector with and without Covid-19 protocols, he said.

Recently there were reports of some luxury resorts and houseboats even carrying out fish farming in swimming pools in order to sustain.

Meanwhile, industry sources are expecting a boom once the Covid-19 restrictions were lifted. The people are now quite frustrated over the restricted life. Hence once the restriction is lifted there could be a surge of people to the tourist destinations, said Toby Pulickattil, managing director of Pulickattil houseboats at Alappuzha.