A plethora of problems plague Kerala's tourism sector

Above all that, experts said, the sewage, waste and the quality of service being rendered by local oarsmen have started to take a toll on tourist arrival.
A plethora of problems plague Kerala's tourism sector

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The waste issue, quality of service, staff behaviour, gap between demand and supply and the rise of Colombo as a strong competitor have resulted in unhealthy practices in the sector.“These issues have to be addressed at the earliest to save the sector,” he said. Four years back, if the owners managed to operate houseboats for 30 days a month each season, it has now gone down to around 10-15 days in a month. One of the reasons is that the increase in the number of houseboats and the arrival of foreign tourists have not been commensurate with each other.

Above all that, experts said, the sewage, waste and the quality of service being rendered by local oarsmen have started to take a toll on tourist arrival.

Tourism Director P Balakiran told Express the government has initiated a slew of measures to stop the unseemly practices.“The government will soon come up with a project envisaging the classification of houseboats into four categories based on the quality of service rendered by the owners,” he said.

“The boats will be divided into diamond, gold, silver and green leaf categories and the price of the service will be published to ensure that the tourists are not taken for a ride by the crooks,” he said.“Further, an effective mechanism will be arranged to collect waste from houseboats to ensure hygiene, apart from introducing a strong licensing system for boats,” added Balakiran.

● Since 2014, the rate of foreign tourist arrival in the houseboat tourism sector is on the decline 
● According to a Tourism Department study, Alappuzha and Kumarakom stood 6th and 8th  respectively in the preferred destination list of foreigners in Kerala 
● Lack of waste disposal, sewage issues, exorbitant prices charged by middlemen, absence of proper infrastructure and connectivity, untrained staff are among the problem areas
● Government plans to classify the houseboats into four categories: diamond, gold, silver and  green leaf. And the price of the service will be published to rein in crooks

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