Admitting that safety and pollution are two key concerns

connected to water tourism, despite it being a vital sector, George said the government has decided to take some strong measures to tackle these problems effectively. One such plan is to encourage local community to collect waste and litters thrown around by houseboats on a daily basis in major cruising water bodies like Vembabad lake between Kochi and Alappuzha. "For instance, some kind of raft could be used for this. Its operators could be paid for the service they render and the material they collected could be disposed of safely or recycled," she said. On safety issues, which has again raised concern with recent death of four picnickers at Alappuzha, she said a meeting of officials and stake-holders would be held soon to work out a set of protocols to be strictly followed by house boat operators. Holding that tourism in Kerala is keeping up its uptrend, she said wellness tourism with focus on Ayurveda will continue to be a prime area to be promoted abroad. Apart from traditional markets like Britain, the state would be projected in countries like Sweden, Switzerland and Austria this year, Rani George added.