The Supreme Court order banning liquor vends within the 500-metre radius of national and State highways will destroy the State’s tourism industry that generated ₹29,658.56 crore revenue in 2016, Minister for Tourism Kadakampally Surendran has said.
Apart from the closure of classified hotels with bars and beer parlours dotting the NH and SH corridors, the Tourism Minister said on Monday that the order would affect those who made a living from tourism.
The Minister said the KTDC had closed down 29 of the 40 beer parlours and was expecting sales of only ₹48 crore.
This would bring down the operating profit to ₹12.13 crore this financial year, leading to a loss of ₹ 5 crore as tax to the State exchequer and another ₹1 core to the Centre by way of service tax.
As many as 506 employees of the KTDC stood to lose their jobs and another 100 would have to be redeployed. This would result in additional financial commitment of ₹4.08 crore.
He said the State’s upper hand in MICE (meetings, incentive, convention, and exhibition) tourism would be lost.
‘Re-designate’
Meanwhile, the South India Hotels and Restaurants Association has asked the government to take steps to re-designate the State highway to save the tourism industry. SHRA vice-president, Kerala, Suresh M. Pillai said city limits should be exempted from the purview of NH and SH.
