Tourism Professionals Club, representing the tour operators of Kerala, has urged Kerala and Tamil Nadu governments to take urgent steps to facilitate smooth movement of tourists, as the tourism movement between the two States has come to a halt in connection with the issues related to Mullaperiyar controversy.
Mr George Scaria, President, Tourism Professionals Club said that the situation would create irreparable damages to Kerala Tourism in the coming years as the Mullaperiyar issue has stopped almost all tourism entries from Tamil Nadu to Kerala and vice versa during this peak season.
At present, the operators are not in a position to operate tours. To worsen the situation, the border check posts have stopped issuing permits to Tamil Nadu and vice versa. These kinds of actions will not do any good for tourism.
Once this situation extends and the news reaches European markets, it will affect next year's bookings also. South India is treated as a tourism circuit by European travellers. The entire industry is dependant on the tourism season and things will go beyond our planning, if situation persists, he said.
He pointed out the vehicles from Tamil Nadu operators are not able to enter Kumily and the State vehicles cannot cross Tamil Nadu. The tourists have to depend on local trucks to reach the border. It is advisable for both States to launch Tourist Police Help Desk to help the tourists in crossing borders in police vehicles so that they can meet the concerned State vehicles waiting at the other end to continue their journey.
The association also requested the authorities to reinstate the issue of inter-State permits and resume the tours between the two States to a normal stage.