KOCHI: Two tourists, Selin from France and Moura from Italy, literally broke down as they met the police in Payyannur on Sunday. The young foreigners who arrived in Kerala to enjoy the lush greenery and fiery ritualistic dances of God’s Own Country were shocked by the attitude of the people who shooed them away shouting ‘keep away corona.’
As hotels refused to give them food, the duo starved for three days. On Sunday evening, the police, with the help of municipal authorities, shifted them to Thalassery government hospital. They were provided accommodation in a resort on Monday as tests proved they were not infected.
Kerala known across the world for its hospitality, is losing its carefully cultivated image of a tourist-friendly state, thanks to the corona scare or the mindless act of vandalism by some miscreants.
A series of incidents have been reported across the state where foreign tourists had to face ostracism.
“Our guests are surprised by the sudden change in attitude of the locals who were always gentle and sympathetic towards tourists. Many of them complain that people were shooing them away and calling them ‘corona’. They are even denied food and water. The tourism sector provides employment to more than 5 lakh people in the state and our turnover last year was Rs 36,000 crore. This attitude will adversely impact the industry,” said Kerala Travel Mart Society president Baby Mathew.
“The staff at a popular restaurant in Kochi asked two foreign tourists to leave their restaurant saying that their presence will inconvenience other guests. Many resorts and homestays are refusing to provide them rooms. These are the same people who were eager to host foreign guests two weeks ago. The change in attitude of Keralites is surprising and this will spell doom for the hospitality industry,” said C P Ajith, managing director of Suburban Travels.
A foreign tour operator, who is a frequent visitor to the state, was shocked as the management of the homestay in Kovalam, where she stays restrained her from venturing out though she didn’t have any symptoms. “The people view foreigners with suspicion and stare at them. Recently passengers refused to travel in a KSRTC bus as foreigners boarded it. It is the backpackers, who arrive without support from tour operators who face discrimination.
On Sunday a resort owner in Vizhinjam had to approach the police as some local residents created a furore demanding to vacate the foreigners staying in the resort alleging they were corona virus infected. In Palakkad a panchayat president asked a hotel owner to vacate foreigners staying in the hotel,” said a travel operator.
After a UK citizen who stayed at a resort in Munnar tested positive for coronavirus, the district administration issued a directive to the resort owners to quarantine all foreign guests for 14 days. Treating tourists as enemies will mar the reputation of the state and will destroy the industry, warn tour operators.
