Kerala on fast-track revival

Kerala will complete its tourism projects in a time-bound manner by giving top priority to those under the government’s 100-day programme, according to Tourism Minister of the state, PA Mohamed Riyas.

Manas Dwivedi

After reviewing ongoing tourism projects in the states, the Tourism Minister said that the authorities will hold urgent meetings with the heads of various department and district administrations to achieve the aim. The announcements come after Kerala Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan announced a 100-day action plan to help the state tide over the economic slowdown triggered by the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Riyas also said discussions will be held soon with people’s representatives and district administrations regarding the tourism development activities to be implemented in Wayanad district, Kozhikode city and Fort Kochi. “The government would initiate ways to increase the arrival of tourists by appointing Keralites residing in Arab countries, Europe and the US as brand ambassadors of state’s tourism,” he added.

“KTDC hotel chains will be renovated under the project ‘Mission Facelift’ after classifying them on a priority basis,” he revealed, announcing major projects under the tourism corporation. “Moreover, floating restaurants will be set up in select destinations across the state on the lines of the one at Veli in Thiruvananthapuram, the first of which will come up in Kadalundi,” the Minister further added.

Talking about other initiatives, he said the online booking system of the hotels of Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) will be upgraded with the introduction of Channel Manager Software to make the booking of rooms from any part of the world quick and hassle-free. “The upgrading of the online booking system is the first major step to connect the prime properties of KTDC to global tourism networks. The system will connect KTDC hotels with major booking websites like Booking.com, Agoda and Indian booking engines like MakeMyTrip, Goibibo and IRCTC of the Indian Railways, giving them greater international visibility,” Riyas said.

The Minister insisted that the ongoing projects will raise the comfort and quality of services of top hotels of KTDC to international standards. He informed, “The projects will be completed within the timeframe set for them. The quality and choice of dishes served in KTDC restaurants will also be improved, by including local delicacies in their menu, which will make the food served by them appealing to the local patrons as well as tourists. The ambience and service of all allied facilities at KTDC hotels will also be improved.”

Mentioning about the state’s revised budget for 2021-22, he said the move will give a big thrust to the revival of the pandemic-riddled tourism sector in Kerala. “The additional allocation of `50 crore proposed for mounting massive marketing campaigns will help Kerala Tourism attract visitors from niche markets and new segments. Similarly, new projects and circuits will ensure that all regions of the state would benefit from tourism development. The budget has also taken due care of the interests of the stakeholders of the key sector by proposing that sufficient working capital and other credit support of over `400 crore would be made available for the growth of industry through financial institutions like Kerala Finance Corporation (KFC). A provision of `30 crore as Government share has been made to work out a Rejuvenation Package for tourism enterprises,” he said.

Additionally, all popular holiday destinations in the state of Kerala may also soon be declared as complete ‘vaccinated zones’ as the state government is working to provide COVID-19 vaccination to everyone in the tourism sector of the state.

“We are mulling to make famous tourist destinations in the state 100 per cent vaccinated zones by July 15 with the support of the health department. The government has already started providing vaccines to those working in the industry after including them in the prioritised list considering them as frontline COVID-19 fighters,” the minister said.