Disrupted by the devastating rain and flood, the lives in Kerala have been striving to bounce back from the chaos. Kerala tourism sector have also been passing through one of its bad times in history. It was just recovering from the bruises given by Nipah virus outbreak; then came the unpredicted rain and flood. Still, everyone is hopeful to reinstate the golden days of the Gods own Country.
The main tourist destinations of the state like Munnar, Thekkady, Alappuzha, Kumarakam etc. are returning to normalcy. The inflow of tourists has been slow following the cancellation of Nehru Trophy Boat Race in Alappuzha and the delayed blooming of ‘Neelakurinji’ in Munnar. Floods have seriously affected Alappuzha and some areas are still under water. Munnar was isolated during the rains due to heavy landslides, which damaged most of the major roads. All these have affected the inflow of tourists to the main tourist hotspots and the sector is slowly catching up.
While the major tourist sports were badly affected by the rain and floods, Ayurveda and the wellness industry survived without many troubles. Beaches of the southern Kerala also had heavy tourist footfalls, even during the rainy season. Kovalam, Varkala and Chowara beaches experienced heavy tourist inflow during this period, irrespective of the rain and flood. One of the reasons for this was the closure of Kochi International airport during the rains and most of the flights were re-directed to Trivandrum airport.
The tourism sector is striving to reinstate the position of Kerala in the world tourism map. As per experts in the industry, extensive and organized campaigns will be needed to achieve this objective.
Photo Courtesy: Seamedu
“We have already started campaigns in the social media,” said P Balakiran, Director, Kerala Tourism to Tourism News Live. “Campaigns to propagate the forthcoming Kerala Travel Mart will be started two weeks earlier to its commencement. We are also considering soliciting support from celebrities for the event,” he added.
“We have already imparted the necessity of comprehensive propaganda for the revival of tourism sector to the authorities” said P K Anish Kumar, President of ATTOI (Association of Tourism Trade Organizers India), to TNL. “We have plans to create videos to narrate the rescue and relief operations carried out by the tourism fraternity during the floods and also to show, how we are recovering from the disruptions,” he added.
