KOCHI: On April 27, the Ernakulam Rural Police issued an alert to the hotel and lodge owners in the district regarding mandatory measures to be taken to ensure security, after the blasts in Sri Lanka. Three days later, two men found in suspicious circumstances were arrested from a hotel in Fort Kochi; it was later found the men were Punjab cops absconding for siphoning money from Bishop Franco Mulakkal's aide. This coincidental discovery has derived the general consensus from people that the high alert status was a good and necessary decision. However, with a heavy inflow of foreign tourists every year, Express takes a look if the increased safety protocol has affected the tourism in Fort Kochi.
"We haven't been particularly affected by the alert, because April is usually offseason. Protocols enforced is not something new in the hotel. We had already enforced the protocols even before the police notice," says Jerin Joseph, front desk manager at Hotel Forte Kochi.
Some hotels also recorded a dropping number of tourist check-ins. "Even though it is not peak season, there is definitely a drop, both with regards to domestic travellers and foreigners. The hotels would have been fully booked now for the Thrissur Pooram but the bookings are minimal this year,” says Vineetha Willie, manager at the Old Harbor Hotel.
Mohammed Jishad of Park Avenue Hotel says: "The alerts have hit the hospitality sector drastically. Both local and foreign crowds are scared and don’t want to take the risk. Had the police been more undercover in their approach, the tourist flow wouldn't have been disrupted."
However, the presence of the police authorities seemed to ease the minds of tourists. Fleur Bernard, a French tourist vacationing in Fort Kochi, says: “The police have been very helpful. We didn’t know about the alert and they’ve been helping us with security throughout our trip. Their mere presence makes us feel safe, in spite of the apparent threat.”
The alert has also put the local residents on their toes. "I was even scared to send my mother for the Edappally church fest last week," says a local resident.