A Kerala Village With 100s Of Acres Of Water Lilies Won't Have Visitors This Time Due To COVID
A few years ago, not many people had heard of Malarikkal - a sleepy village in Kottayam district of Kerala. But thanks to the internet and social media, it became an hit among tourists and August-September used to be the peak of tourism in this agrarian village.
People from far and wide came to Malarikkal along the Kottayam-Kumarakom road, to see water lilies?- a sea of pink as far as the eye can see.
Malarikkal village, which is otherwise a paddy plantation, transforms itself into a pink sea in August and September due to the blooming of the water lilies, known as Aambal in Malayalam.
The village has an estimated 600-700 acres of paddy fields where pink water lilies bloom, this time of the year.
Every day, hundreds of people used to throng the area early in the morning to catch a glimpse of the spectacle, and maybe take a boat ride among them and pose for photos.
According to locals tour coordinators, some 80,000 people had visited Malaraikkal in 2019, and this year during the Onam season they were hoping for an even larger turnout.
But then COVID-19 happened and like every other tourist destination, Malaraikkal too became a no-go zone for outsiders.
Onam, the biggest festival in Kerala which will be celebrated next week, which was among the busiest days in Malarikal in the past.
But this time hardly anyone has shown up in the village despite the water lilies blooming since the start of this month.
Locals too have decided not to allow visitors into the village due to the fear of COVID-19.
The tourism industry in Kerala has taken a severe beating due to the pandemic, and suffered loses around Rs 25,000 crore.
"The loss that has been suffered is Rs 25,000 crore and it has hit thousands of people working in the industry very badly. The state government has now announced a package of Rs 455 crore for the industry," state Tourism Minister, Kadakampally Surendran, said.
It was a record 1.96 crore tourists who arrived (domestic and foreign) in Kerala in the 2019 calendar year.
It registered a 17.2 per cent growth as compared to the 2018 calendar year.?This rate of growth is a record of sorts, as it's the first time since 1996 that such a rate has been achieved,
The total earnings from tourism stood at Rs 45,010.69 crore, notching a robust 24.14 per cent growth.
