Volunteer groups are in place in 12 key tourist destinations in the State to provide assistance to domestic and foreign tourists and to help the government check the spread of COVID-19 infection.
Twelve groups, comprising entrepreneurs in the tourism sector and representatives of hotels, resorts, travel agents, tour operators, and house boat operators will arrange accommodation for vacationers in the State and ensure their safe return back home.
The groups will work with the health authorities and the district administration that is coordinating the programmes to check the spread of the deadly virus.
The decision to form the groups comes close on the heels of reports of tourists being denied rooms in hotels, access to restaurants and rest rooms, and singled out and harassed by the public, branding them as carriers of virus.
Reports of two French and Italian nationals going without food for four days in Kannur had also expedited the move.
Set up under the Kerala Travel Mart Society that organises the Kerala Travel Mart (KTM), the groups have the cooperation of the government, the Confederation of Kerala Tourism Industry (CKTI) and various associations in the tourism industry.
Designated sites
The volunteer groups have started working in Thiruvananthapuram, Kovalam, Varkala, Kollam, Marari, Kumarakom, Kochi, Munnar, Thekkady, Wayanad, Bekal, and Neeleswaram, said CKTI president E.M. Najeeb. The group has a convenor, joint convenor and a coordinator. The mobile numbers of the members have been made public.
Anish Kumar P. K., the convenor of the group and a leading travel operator in the capital, said they had launched the work on Wednesday by shooting an awareness video on how to sanitise a tourist taxi. “This video will be of use to taxi and autorickshaw drivers,” he said.
Visa curbs
The number of foreign tourists in the State has come down from 5,000-odd to 1,000 after COVID-19 cases surfaced in Kerala and travel and visa restrictions were imposed by several countries, he said. In Kovalam, there are 92 guests, who are staying in leased houses.
