The COVID-19 crisis has brought the tourist inflow to Kerala, as elsewhere across the globe, to a complete halt.
To keep the State’s tourism prospects alive, the Responsible Tourism (RT) Mission is rolling out bite-sized videos of performances of its artisans and craftsmen. The videos, two to five minutes long, explaining the activities, are shared through online platforms to reach out to domestic and international tour operators and travellers.
Starting from April 2, the mission has filmed about 500 videos. Buoyed by the positive response they have evoked among the travel community, the agency hopes to convert a fair share of its overseas viewers into actual customers.
“Each video begins and concludes with the need to maintain personal hygiene to stay safe from the COVID-19 outbreak. In between, the artists introduce themselves, give a brief demonstration of their activities and even narrate stories about their performances to engage with the guests,” explained K. Roopesh Kumar, coordinator, RT Mission.
Among the videos that have evoked a huge response include a ‘COVID sculpture’ in wood by Ratheesh of Bedakam in Kasaragod district and Sopana Sangeetham and Bhadrakali Theeyattu performances by artists associated with the Pepper Project at Vaikom.
Crafts training too
Meanwhile, the mission also seeks to expand the scope of its videos to include training in a couple of heritage crafts using coconut shells and other cheaply available raw materials. From February this year, the takers for packages by the RT Mission, focussing on the village life, had witnessed a steep fall. By March, the agency was forced to cancel all its bookings for the season with the disease turning into a pandemic.
