THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Though the state government has decided to reopen major tourism destinations in Kerala for domestic and international tourists, the stakeholders are apprehensive about the decision as Kerala continues to be a pandemic hotspot.
The plan of the government is to vaccinate all those working in the tourism sector and make the destinations secure and safe for tourism activities. In Thiruvananthapuram, Kovalam and Varkala are the two prominent tourist spots shortlisted for priority vaccination and reopening. However, hotels and restaurants - which is an integral part of the tourism industryare not happy about the immunisation plan.
Patron of Kerala Hotel and Restaurants Association (KHRA) Sudheish Kumar said that vaccinating those directly involved in the tourism industry alone won’t help. “The tourism department claims that they have completed vaccination of around 40 per cent of people in the industry. But vaccinating those who are directly involved in the industry may not help. To make the destinations safer, the authorities should vaccinate the family members too. But that will take a minimum of three months if the government decides to vaccinate the families as well,” said Sudheish Kumar.
It is estimated that 1.5 million people are directly or indirectly employed in the tourism sector. “Kerala is one of the hotspots in the country with a high test positivity rate and more active cases. Nobody would dare to come here until the Covid situation is neutralised. Even domestic tourists would be reluctant to visit Kerala right now. In many places, there is resistance from the part of the local ward members to include those working in the hotel industry in the priority list as they want the local people to get vaccinated first,” Sudheish said.
On Wednesday, Tourism Minister A Mohamed Riyas said that efforts are on to secure and vaccinate the tourism centre in the state. The tourism department has tied up with the health department to carry out priority vaccination of those working in tourism destinations. A senior official of the tourism department said that vaccination drives are already under way at Kovalam and Varkala.
“We have asked the hotel and restaurant owners to submit the list of the employees. Achieving total vaccination at destinations would help build confidence among tourists,” said the official. Meanwhile, efforts are in full swing to upgrade tourism infrastructure at Kovalam. The department has also directed the local bodies to identify potential tourist spots in their jurisdiction to give a much-needed boost to the tourism industry in the state.