Tourism sector concerned as foreign tourists skip Kerala

Govt insistence on 7-day quarantine for visitors seen as reason

Contrary to expectation from the tourism fraternity, there has been next to nil arrival of foreign tourists to Kerala during the current peak tourist season, despite the skies opening up and airports like the Cochin International Airport recording a daily footfall of around 25,000 passengers, as compared to the pre-pandemic figure of 30,000 passengers.

Nowhere is it more glaring than at Fort Kochi – hitherto considered a hub of foreign guests. The teeming crowds at the beach and heritage streets on comprised mostly of domestic tourists and people from within Kochi.

Very few international guests arrived this season, despite the reopening of medical visa issual. This has been attributed largely to the insistence that everyone who arrives from countries where restrictions are in vogue ought to remain under quarantine for seven days. In this situation, it appears tourism players would have to wait till September 2022 when the next season begins, to host foreign guests, said Sajeev Kurup, president of Ayurveda Promotion Society.