The hospitality industry is facing a stressful time amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the shutdown of tourism across the world.
To mitigate some of the losses, a luxury resort in Kerala has started a new economic activity in their pool to save their sinking business.
Aveda Resort in the state of Kerala has turned its 150-metre (500-feet) pool into a fish farm and the resort is planning to export the harvest to the Middle East.
During the season, the resort is packed with European tourists. However, during the pandemic the owners have been forced to use its pool with 7.5 million litres of water for pearl spot fish farming.?
"We have had zero revenues, so in June, we put around 16,000 two-month-old pearl spot fish in the pool," said Aveda's general manager Jyotish Surendran to news agency AFP.
"We plan to harvest by November and will export to the Middle East," he said.
The fish is fondly eaten in Southern India and the Middle East. Sunderan claims the value of four tonnes of pearl spots growing in the pool could be worth $40,000 on the market.
Sunderan also added the money generated from the farm could not compensate for the losses they suffered due to the pandemic, but he was hopeful that the money would help them keep the business running until tourists return.?
"We can't continue with this farm in the pool, but we are trying to find alternative land where we can build up this knowledge for bigger projects," Surendran said.