Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) Society has called for an all-party meeting to discuss protecting the tourism sector, a key revenue and employment generator for the state, from the impact of frequent hartals that inconvenience tourists and undermine tourism promotion efforts.
"There were views from different quarters that hartals adversely affect the tourism sector and that public opinion should be mobilised to overcome this situation.It is a welcome sign," said Baby Mathew, KTM President, in a release here.
He requested political parties and organisations to take the initiative to form a consensus on this issue.
"Apart from excluding the tourism sector from hartals,the government should give priority to protect tourists and institutions in this sector during hartal days," he said.
The KTM Society is a non-profit organisation that includes multiple industry stakeholders working together to promote tourism in Kerala and strengthen the tourism economy.
KTM also welcomed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's call to treat tourism as an essential service like hospitals, newspapers and milk delivery, and similarly exempt them from the purview of the hartal shutdowns.
Minister of State for Tourism Alphons Kannanthanam had also voiced his support for such a move, as did CPI(M) State Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and KPCC President M M Hassan.
Jose Pradeep, Secretary, KTM, said the statements of the Chief Minister and of various party leaders "are highly encouraging for the possibility of a consensus opinion to form regarding the exclusion."
Elaborating on the extent of damage the industry and the economy suffer because of the shutdowns, Baby Mathew said the tourism sector contributes crores of Rupees to the states economy and employs tens of thousands of people.
"Hartals leave visitors to Kerala in the lurch and shut down services, gravely affecting the sector and consequently our economic progress. We are very happy to see the Chief Minister is aware of, and understands the situation and we fully back his suggestion," he said.
Baby Mathew noted that 'Flash hartals' that catch tourists unawares and threaten their freedom of movement are also on the rise in Kerala.
"While we promote our state as 'God's Own Country' overseas, it greatly damages our efforts when we cannot even ensure basic freedom of movement to travellers within our state," the KTM president said.
If this situation prevails, entrepreneurs and investors would hesitate to start new ventures in Kerala, he said.
Tourists, who are stranded due to lack of food and transportation during hartal days, would not show any interest in visiting Kerala again, he added.
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