Faced with the prospect of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Kerala’s tourism sector losing their market share to mega players, stakeholders have highlighted the urgent need for players in the sector to join the mainstream digital bandwagon, in order to remain afloat and make their presence felt.
MSMEs in the sector, which together provide employment to 80% of the approximately 15 lakh workforce, are the worst hit by the pandemic and the subsequent lull in the arrival of guests. The president of city-based Tourism Professionals Club (TPC), George Scaria, who is also a guest lecturer teaching responsible tourism at a university in Austria, said almost half the MSME players were unaware of digital technologies.
Mr. Scaria, who began his tourism career 30 years ago, is learning content marketing strategy online from the University of California. He, however, added that technology had its limitations and human intervention still played a major role in ensuring that tourists had a memorable trip. All that should not prevent MSME stakeholders from dropping their suspicion of each other and coming together on digital platforms for the common good. “Especially since the MSME Ministry is proactive and helpful,” he said, pointing to an instance of a bank denying loan to his tour agency that caters mainly to foreign tourists. “I shot off a complaint to the regional officer, who took it up with the bank concerned. A loan-approval letter from the bank followed,” he said.
India Tourism, in association with the MSME Ministry, recently apprised stakeholders in the sector of the numerous schemes that they could avail, in order to help those struggling in the wake of the pandemic.
Help desk
Recently, Web CRS Travel Technologies, a Kochi-based Startup India-accredited company, launched a free help desk to support MSMEs in the tourism sector. The aim is to provide necessary professional assistance to MSMEs that are preparing to reopen after the lockdown. Experts from various fields will clarify doubts of tourism entrepreneurs, while also assisting in technology elements needed to revitalize the tourism industry. Questions and concerns of entrepreneurs working in hospitality, tour and travel companies and tourism experience providers would be answered directly, or after consultation with experts, said Neelkanth Pararat, the founder of the firm.