The help desk set up by Kerala Tourism has brought relief to numerous tourists who were turned away from hotels and other accommodation units in different parts of Kerala in the wake of the COVID-19 situation.
They include Miriam Skovgard Mahony, a 25-year-old Danish tourist who landed in Kerala this month. She could not find hotel accommodation at Willingdon Island. A resort in the area came to her rescue, offered her food and also contacted Kerala Tourism, which has just set up a help desk to swiftly address any problem tourists face in the State. In the early hours of Wednesday, the Kochi office of Kerala Tourism swung into action. “Our staff took Miriam to KTDC-owned Bolghatty Palace Hotel, not far from where she was stranded,” said Rani George, Secretary of Kerala Tourism.
Four other tourists stranded in another locale in Kochi and a few others in Alappuzha too were helped out. They included Australian Goodger Ben Julian, American Andrey Sergeevich and Singaporeans Thia Martha Augustine and Amy Marie, who had booked rooms in a hotel.
They had been refused accommodation because of the viral scare. At an Alappuzha hotel, U.S. national Alan was asked to present medical certificates that showed him disease-free.
Shifted to isolation ward
The man rang up the help desk, which took him to the nearest hospital on the advice of the District Medical Officer. As a precautionary measure, he was moved to the isolation ward of a hospital.
Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran said there had been a one-off claim (in the social media) where a phone call to the help desk set up on Tuesday was not attended. “I believe it was an aberration. The facility has been functioning to the best of its capacity,” he said.
The Minister pointed out that all but two of the 19 British tourists who were sent back from the Nedumbassery airport continue to be taken care of at a hotel at Kalamassery. This was done after they were recommended to stay in quarantine last week. “Two others among them are a couple being given treatment. Of them, as you know, the husband had tested positive for COVID-19,” he said, adding that the government was meeting his medical expenses. “The wife is under observation”.
