Kerala tourism emphasizes on survival strategies

Published on : Friday, May 28, 2021

After the devastating deluge and then the ongoing pandemic, various tour operators in Kerala are finding it tough to carry on and sustain employees. Lakhs of people are directly or indirectly associated with Kerala’s otherwise thriving tourism sector.

Back-to-back years of floods followed by an alarming public health crisis has battered an industry contributing almost 11 per cent to the state’s GDP, offering livelihood opportunities for almost 15 lakh people. Many tour operators are making use of the last of their personal savings to keep their businesses afloat. The less fortunate are dependent on government rations and assistance.

“Survival of those attached to the sector is the first priority. We can only think of revival (of the sector) after that. If vaccination of the general public proceeds at a good pace, perhaps by October we could achieve a sense of herd immunity and people would be more confident of travelling then,” said Kumar, tour operator and the president of the Association of Tourism Trade Organizations of India.

As urged by industry leaders, the Kerala government has started vaccinating hotel and hospitality employees, categorizing them as ‘frontline workers.’ Employers can register their staff on a state government portal and slots are arranged for them by health officials after verification of documents.

“If the tourism industry is fully vaccinated, we can promote Kerala as a fully-vaccinated safe destination for inbound travellers. Right now, those attached to hotels are being inoculated,” said Kumar.

Although Kerala’s peak tourist season between November and February had helped businesses and operators offset losses to a small extent, the second wave has once again brought the industry to a complete standstill. As infections increased in the state, other states demanded that travelers need to carry negative Covid-test results while coming back from Kerala. This further reduced tourist inflow.

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