THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The resurgence of the new Covid variant is casting a shadow on the booming tourism industry in Kerala. The news of Covid-related deaths and the growing number of cases have spread like wildfire on social media platforms, triggering panic among tourists.
While the tourism season is in full swing, the stakeholders are concerned about the reports on COVID-19 that portray Kerala as the hot spot of the new variant in the country. The Centre has also sounded high alert for Kerala and has given direction to all the states to scale up testing for COVID-19.
According to the stakeholders, the industry receives a high number of bookings in December and January. Indian Association of Tour Operators Vice-President E M Najeeb told TNIE that the tour operators are bombarded with calls from tourists during this time. “We met the tourism secretary and apprised him of our concern. The news about COVID-19 that is coming out is bad for the industry and we have demanded not to highlight the disease so much. As of now, the situation is under control. But if the cases rise, the industry will feel the heat,” said Najeeb.
He blamed the media coverage and news on social media for the rising apprehension and anxiety among the tourists. “We have only a few international tourists now and a large share of the visitors are from other states. Anticipated precautions will not affect the industry much,” he added. Industry insiders are worried about the trend as the previous Nipah outbreak also negatively impacted the industry.
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Kerala State Homestay and Tourism Society secretary M P Sivadathan said the homestay owners are very apprehensive about the situation. “Last year also we survived on domestic tourism. The inflow of foreign tourists is yet to pick up and we have done so much campaigning in north India and other states to bring in domestic tourists. And we are getting bookings like never before. But after the news of the new variant of Covid-19, we are getting anxious calls from our clients. Although negligible in number, there have been cancellations too,” said Sivadathan.
He said the tourism industry had struggled to stay afloat during the pandemic. “Things were going good. However, the new outbreak of Covid has left us all concerned,” he said. The booming MICE Tourism is also under threat in the state. Raju Kannampuzha of Executive Events said “We are getting queries from clients checking on the Covid situation in the state. Our company conducted six events and two major events are being scheduled for January. As of now, there is no problem. However, even minor issues are being highlighted and circulated on social media,” said Raju.
Impact on Tourism