With signs of the second wave of Covid-19 subsiding, Kerala is charting measures to revive its vital tourism sector by rolling out packages that encourage domestic travelers to visit the destinations in the state.
A high-level meeting presided by Tourism Minister Adv Mohamed Riyas on Saturday decided to finalise projects and implement them at the earliest so as to inspire confidence in travelers and woo them to a whole range of places across Kerala.
The initiative, which is being carried out considering that the pandemic will take time for authorities to promote international tourists, seeks to complete select tourism projects in the districts on a time-bound basis. Kerala Tourism will work in close association with allied departments by initiating sustained dialogues with all parties.
In a month, the various approval/classification schemes under Ease of Doing Business will go online. Authorities will draft new Covid-19 protocols for tourists arriving from other states. This will be done after Tourism officials hold talks with their counterparts in the Ministry of Health.
The government will administer anti-Covid vaccine to deserving workers in the tourist sector and will explore the possibilities to train them for jobs in tune with world tourism standards.
Today’s meeting between the Department of Tourism and senior functionaries of allied institutions entrusted top officials to come up with drafts of projects that can reinvigorate the tourism sector which has been in the doldrums owing to the pandemic. The proposed initiatives will start by the second week of June, by when authorities are hopeful of a slide in the graph of the present second wave of Covid-19.
