Call for confidence building measures to woo tourists back to Kerala

The massive fire that lasted over a week at Brahmapuram and the resultant toxic smoke that engulfed much of Ernakulam district could dent Kerala’s image as one of the must-see tourist destinations in the world. A senior official of India Tourism’s regional office here spoke of the need for confidence building measures to minimise the damage caused to Kerala’s image as a popular Responsible Tourism destination. “After all, scientific garbage treatment is at the core of Responsible Tourism.” The massive fire at Brahmapuram led to a few panic-stricken foreign and domestic tourists visiting the office at Fort Kochi seeking clarification on whether there was any official statement from the government to tourists — most of whom had come to visit KMB — on the need to relocate out of Kochi. Apart from health hazards, the long-term fallout of the fire include damage to the iconic backwaters of Kochi and central Kerala, said Muralee Menon, a doctorate holder in tourism management and former director of Hydrel Tourism, who readied and helped implement a sustainable tourism action plan at Kumbalanghi, India’s first model tourism village. Kerala Tourism must take steps so that the fire does not affect tourist arrivals in the coming tourist season, especially so since the disheartening air quality that it triggered received wide media coverage,” he added.