Hartals;KTM Society calls for all-party meet to protect sector

Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) Society has called for an all-party meeting to discuss protecting the tourism sector, a key revenue and employment generator for the state, from the impact of frequent hartals that inconvenience tourists and undermine tourism promotion efforts.

"There were views from different quarters that hartals adversely affect the tourism sector and that public opinion should be mobilised to overcome this situation.It is a welcome sign," said Baby Mathew, KTM President, in a release here.

He requested political parties and organisations to take the initiative to form a consensus on this issue.

"Apart from excluding the tourism sector from hartals,the government should give priority to protect tourists and institutions in this sector during hartal days," he said.

The KTM Society is a non-profit organisation that includes multiple industry stakeholders working together to promote tourism in Kerala and strengthen the tourism economy.

KTM also welcomed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's call to treat tourism as an essential service like hospitals, newspapers and milk delivery, and similarly exempt them from the purview of the hartal shutdowns.

Minister of State for Tourism Alphons Kannanthanam had also voiced his support for such a move, as did CPI(M) State Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and KPCC President M M Hassan.

Jose Pradeep, Secretary, KTM, said the statements of the Chief Minister and of various party leaders "are highly encouraging for the possibility of a consensus opinion to form regarding the exclusion."