With over half-a-dozen key States in the country’s tourism map opening up the sector based on Unlock 4, stakeholders of the travel and tourism industry in the State have demanded resuming operations in the sector that has been remaining closed for six months.
They have officially raised the demand to the government to keep “Kerala open for tourism” and to allow them to carry out business by adopting COVID-19 protective measures on the lines of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Goa, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan to accelerate survival and recovery of the sector.
The existing 14-day compulsory quarantine, a requirement for travellers arriving in the State, is a major setback for the travel trade. The government has given permission to open hotels in the State subject to the COVID-19 prevention and control rules, but it will benefit only those visiting the State for up to seven days on business.
Workers, investors hit
Very few hotels in major cities are open. Most have no guests as hotels, resorts and houseboats in the State are run exclusively for leisure tourists. Lack of business has affected more than 15 lakh workers directly and 20 lakh indirectly. More than 20,000 local investors and entrepreneurs working in this sector with support of bank loans and aid from other financial institutions are in dire straits. More than 4,000 hotels, resorts, 1,000-odd houseboats, 100 Ayurvedic centres, 1,000 tour operators, homestay owners, water theme parks, taxi drivers, tourists guides, and units in the adventure tourism sector are affected.
“If this continues, the tourism industry, which earned about ₹45,000 crore to the exchequer last year, will have to be closed down permanently,” says Confederation of Kerala Tourism Industry (CKTI) president E.M. Najeeb and general secretary Sajeev Kurup.
With safeguards
“The States which have opened up have got footfalls. There is no restriction in adjoining Karnataka. We should accept the situation and open up the sector with adequate safeguards. If we open up in October, we will get 20 to 30% business in the remaining months,” Abraham George, member, National Tourism Advisory Council, and CMD of the Kochi-based Intersight Tours and Travels, told The Hindu.
“This is the time when tour operators from different States start marketing for Diwali and also the time when foreign tour operators start planning for January 2021. Government should immediately announce that Kerala is open for tourism,” Thomas John Muthoot, chairman, CII Kerala State Council, said in a letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
The CII has urged the government to support the tourism, travel and hospitality industry on fiscal and macro-economic measures to tide over the crisis.
The CKTI and CII have suggested rapid antigen test and RT-PCR test for tourists, to allow tourist with COVID-negative certificate to visit Kerala without being mandated to undergo quarantine and to initiate training programme for tourism professionals on how to handle tourist during this period.