Thiruvananthapuram: The unannounced protests, including hartals, blockades and scary weather forecast are killing the tourism industry in the state. There has been a 60 percent drop in the business compared to the previous year.
The Nipah outbreak and recent floods have adversely affected the industry. Various business operators relating to the industry, including hoteliers, tourist guides, tourist taxi drivers, homestay owners and houseboat owners took out a march here to protest against the adverse situation in the state.
Since the eruption of Sabarimala issue, protests have become common across the state. Mr P.V. Manu, secretary of the Association of Tourism Trade Organisation India (ATTOI), said that since May this year there has been a downfall in the tourism industry.
He said that the livelihoods of thousands of people were getting affected. The industry wants the state government to take a policy decision to keep out tourism from hartals and protests just like other emergency services.
"Initially it was Nipah outbreak and immediately after that the floods happened. We faced a lot of loss and expected the industry to pick up this tourism season. But it's not happening owing to the political atmosphere in the state. Adding to this is the warning alerts from the weather department which is shooing away tourists. People are scared to come when there is an orange alert or red alert," said Mr Manu.
The period from October to December is considered as the prime tourism season in the state. "Foreign tourists come to the state for a two or three-day visit and these protests are forcing them to stay indoors spoiling the trip. There have been times when we were unable to pick the tourists from the airport to the hotels. Tourism is one of the prime sources of income for the state. This is just a token protest and we will give a memorandum to the government soon in this regard," Mr Manu added.
