Tourism stakeholders observe Black Day

Centre, State lackadaisical in helping out the crisis-ridden sector, they allege

Expressing angst at the alleged lackadaisical attitude of the Centre and State governments in helping out the crisis-ridden tourism stakeholders and the over-a-million-strong workforce in Kerala, members of the fraternity observed May 1, Workers’ Day, as Black Day through protests, including through social media. The observance of Black Day comes at a time when the resurgent pandemic has resulted in foreign and domestic tourists cancelling or postponing their trips to the State which banks heavily on the over ₹40,000-crore annual revenue from the sector. “Foreign tourists alone brought an average of over ₹10,000-crore revenue each year to Kerala. Soft loans and other measures announced by the State government to help such people out have not benefited even a fraction of the over 2 lakh tourism workforce who lost their jobs due to the pandemic-induced crisis, since banks have discretion in sanctioning loans, and they do not care much for the State Level Banking Committee (SLBC),” said George Scaria, president of Tourism Professionals Club, who also teaches responsible tourism at an Austrian university.