Kerala govt to make tourist destinations 100% COVID vaccinated zones to attract visitors

Kerala will establish new cultural and pilgrimage tourism attractions to attract maximum domestic visitor arrivals to help the tourism sector recover from the COVID-induced crisis, Tourism Minister PA Mohammed Riyas said on Thursday, June 10. He stated that he wants to maximize the possibilities of historical and pilgrimage tourism. "During this period, one of the main aims is to alleviate the fear and concern of tourists regarding COVID-19. To address this, already those working in the tourism sector including resorts, hotels and restaurants have been declared as front-line workers and COVID vaccination has been started."

In a tie-up with the health department, all those in major tourism destinations like taxi drivers and guides will be vaccinated before July 15 to declare it as 100 percent vaccinated destination."

Kerala to declare major destinations as 100 pc COVID vaccinated

In response to questioning in the Kerala Assembly, Tourism Minister indicated that due to COVID-19, the Kerala tourism industry, which contributes 11% to the state's GSDP, will lose Rs 33,675 crore in 2020. Tourism Minister noted, "There was a steep fall in foreign and domestic tourist arrivals to the state. In the present Coronavirus scenario, Kerala will be focusing on domestic tourists rather than foreign tourists. In 2019, 1.83 crore domestic tourists arrived in Kerala and by 2025 we have set a target of 3.65 crore domestic tourist arrivals."

He stated that the Kerala government is working on a financial package to boost the tourist industry in an effort to increase domestic tourism. He mentioned that the tourism industry has been allocated Rs 30 crore in the recent budget. "To address the issues of the tourism industry, a meeting with 18 tourism associations was conducted. We are charting out plans to support Homestays, houseboats, tour operators and guides in the tourism sector. Kerala Financial Corporation is also providing subsidized loans for tourism investors to overcome the financial crisis due to COVID-19," added Riyas. 

COVID-19 cases in Kerala

On Wednesday, Kerala reported 16,204 new COVID-19 cases and 156 deaths, bringing the total number of cases to 26,44,141 and the death toll to 10,437. The number of recovered cases continues to outnumber new cases, with 20,237 testing negative, bringing the total to 25,24,248. Ernakulam had the greatest number of cases (2,059) in the state, followed by Kollam (1,852) and Thiruvananthapuram (1,783), according to the health minister Veena George.

(with inputs from ANI)

Picture Credit: PTI