Kottayam: The Nipah outbreak, floods, Sabarimala and sudden hartals have robbed Kerala of the status of a prime tourist destination forcing the foreign tourists to shun it.
This is evident mostly at Kumarakom, which was a huge draw for the tourists until the disasters struck one after the other from May this year.
The inflow reached rock bottom in September and it is yet to pick up. And the gainer is Sri Lanka.
This dismal picture of Kumarakom’s downfall is clear from the data of the research wing of the state government’s statistics department.
The hospitality industry and the houseboat sector have echoed the same views.
The data from January to December, 2017 and 2018 shows that the slide started by the end of May with the outbreak of the Nipah virus.
There was an increase of 27.96 per cent in tourist arrivals in January this year compared to January 2017. It went up to 43.47 percent in February 2018, 76.38 per cent in March, 111.54 per cent in April and 213.19 per cent in May.
However, the arrivals fell to 65.88 per cent in June, 31.99 per cent in July, -18.31 per cent in August and -1.79 per cent in September.
“The steep fall was due to the Nipah virus outbreak. A major portion of the foreign tourists comes to Kumarakom and the statistics mainly deals with it,” Mr C.G. Rajesh, research officer with the statistics department, told this newspaper.
The industry leaders say that the situation is hopeless. Mr Shambhu Gopalakrishnan, general manager of Coconut Lagoon Hotel, Kumarakom, said that there was a campaign in the west, especially UK, against visiting Kerala after the floods. “Bookings have fallen due to the fear that the flood is continuing and the videos are still circulating. Moreover, the tourism destination of Sri Lanka is performing well,” he said.
Mr Sanjay Varma, resident manager of the Kumarakom Lake Resort, said that the scenario was dismal. “At this time generally, the booking will be 85 to 90 percent, which is now only 50 to 60 per cent. The Nipah virus and the natural calamities have hit the sector. We are waiting to see whether the situation will change by the middle of December,” he said. The District Tourism promotion Council(DTPC) agreed that fewer number of foreign tourists were coming compared to last year.
This is the opinion of the houseboat sector too. Mr Shanoj Kumar, former secretary of the houseboats association, Kumarakom, said the houseboat booking was less by 90 percent.
“Tourists were scared by the floods, Nipah virus, Sabarimala issue and the sudden hartals,” he said. Over 500 families directly depend on the houseboat industry and 3,000 families indirectly for their livelihood, he said.
