COVID second wave dashes hopes of tourism entrepreneurs

Curbs on travel, containment zone regulations affect bookings at homestays

A quite unexpected second wave of COVID-19 has dashed the hopes of several homestay and local tourism entrepreneurs who are now back to square one with no options left out to overcome their business woes. Many bookings have already been cancelled with the increasing restrictions on travel and containment zone regulations. There are also entrepreneurs who even renovated their homestay facilities investing huge amounts, and refurbished houseboats expecting some extra income. “The saddest thing is that we will miss this season as well amidst the pandemic spread. Last year also the situation was almost the same. Those who made additional investment to recoup the loss are the worst-affected now,” says T. Saleesh, a rural tourism entrepreneur from Koorachundu. He adds that many small entrepreneurs who faced huge loss following the pandemic outbreak will not be able to make up for the loss in the current situation.