Tourism sector in Munnar, Thekkady badly hit

KUMLIY: The Mullaperiyar dam issue has badly  hit the tourism sector in Munnar and Thekkady as the tourist flow has declined by 40 percent in the last one week. Even though many foreign tourists are arriving in Kochi and other parts of the state, they are scared to reach the High Range areas after violence took place in the border areas. One of the worst hit are the hoteliers who are seeing very few occupants this season. “Many  foreign tourists who booked rooms for the Christmas season have cancelled their bookings. The tourists mainly reach here from Kochi and Madurai according to the tour packages they choose. Since the checkposts are closed and violence is taking place in the border region, the foreigners comings from Madurai have cancelled the bookings. No few tourists are arriving here from Kochi and some domestic tourists from North India. This year, we are already witnessing a low inflow of tourists because of economic recession. The present situation will worsen the tourism indutry in Thekkady and Munnar” said Johny Tom, secretary of Thekkady Development Promotion Council,  an association of hoteliers in Thekkady.According to a DTPC official, December is the peak season of tourism in Kerala, but this year the number of tourist arrival has declined by up to 40 percent. “The number of tourists in Alappuzha, Kollam and Varkala are fine. But in Thekkaddy and Munnar, the number has reduced to 40 percent. The tourism sector will be profitable only if the foreigners arrive in these places. For the past one week, only 436 foreigners have arrived in Thekkady. Same is the situation in Munnar. The tourism in Thekkady was reviving after the Thekkady boat tragedy. The current situation would affect the future of tourism here” the DTPC official said. The KTDC and the Forest Department which operate the boat services in Thekkady had to cancel many trips owing to low tourist arrival. “We had to cancel several trips as very few tourists are coming here. Earlier, there were five trips daily, but these days we had to cut it short to three and two. Even then we hardly get enough people to run all the boats” Sanjayan Kumar, the Deputy Director of Periyar Tiger Reserve, said.