The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Stakeholders air grievances at meet on tourism crisis

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Wednesday, Nov 19, 2008
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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Stakeholders air grievances at meet on tourism crisis

Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A meeting convened by the State government in the capital on Monday to work out strategies to overcome the crisis in the tourism sector sparked off by the global recession turned out to be a forum for stakeholders in the industry to list their grievances.

Everything from the demolitions in Munnar to the delay in removing a dead dog at Kovalam was raised at the meet chaired by Minister for Tourism and Home Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.

Principal Secretary, Industries, T. Balakrishnan, who was the moderator, had to intervene several times to ensure that the stakeholders stuck to the agenda of providing suggestions.

High taxation, the delay in completing the beautification work on the Light House and Eve’s beaches in Kovalam, problems faced by resorts in drawing power from the wind mills and the move to acquire large tracts of land for the International Container Transhipment Terminal at Vizhinjam were among the other issues raised at the meeting.

Mr. Balakrishnan, who acted as moderator in the absence of the Tourism Secretary and the Tourism Director, kicked off the session by pointing out that postponing or cancelling holidays would be the first thing one did in a financial crisis. “The crisis is not a problem confined to the State or India. A lesson can be learnt from Malaysia and Hawai, which offered freebies to overcome the crisis,” he said.

This was after E.M. Najeeb, president of the Confederation of Tourism Industry of Kerala, made a detailed presentation on the likely impact of the crisis on the industry. Managing director of CGH Earth Jose Dominic pointed out that 2009 was going to be the testing year for the State’s tourism industry. President of the Southern Kerala Hoteliers Forum M.R. Narayanan suggested converting the luxury tax into soft loans and reduction in the electricity tariff for the tourism industry.

K.V. Muralidharan of the Kerala Travel Agents Association demanded steps from the State to reduce the airfare from major cities to the State to attract tourists.

Baby Mathew of Somatheeram Beach Resort, Chowara, demanded support from the government for attending international trade fairs and travel marts to attract tourists. M.P. Sivadattan of the Homestay Association demanded withdrawal of tax on home stays and more road shows to attract tourists to the State. Zacharia of the House Boats Association said the entry of new boats in the backwaters of Kerala should be restricted till the crisis was over.

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