To Prevent Shutting Down In Crisis, Kerala Luxury Resort Converts Large Pool Into A Fish Farm

Tourism industry has been one of the worst hit by the coronavirus lockdown and economic slowdown. With no one to stay in resorts and hotels, employers are finding it difficult to pay their employees and keep the business afloat.?

To keep its business from sinking amid the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, a luxury resort in Kerela has turned its swimming pool into a fish farm.

AFP

The 150-metre (500-feet) pool at the Aveda Resort in Kerala state would be packed with European tourists, under normal circumstance. Now, thousands of pearl spot fish swim there.

The complex - like other places - was forced to shut in March, when a nationwide coronavirus lockdown was ordered. Since then only a few hotels have reopened.?

Of these, not all have a pool with 7.5 million litres of water, which can be put to alternative use.

"We have had zero revenues, so in June, we put around 16,000 two-month-old pearl spot fish in the pool," Aveda's general manager, Jyotish Surendran, told AFP.

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The fish takes about eight months to reach its full size and is one of the popular dishes in southern India and the Middle East.

"We plan to harvest by November and will export to the Middle East," Surendran said. He predicted that about four tonnes of pearl spots growing in the swimming pool could be worth $40,000 (Approx Rs 30 lakh) on the market.

However, even the makeshift farm would not cover the losses from the pandemic, which has driven many hotels to bankruptcy, according to the hotel boss.

But Surendran is hopeful that the money would at least help cover basic bills so the business can be kept afloat until tourists return.?In fact, the Aveda plans to keep farming pearl spot even when business resumes.

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"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," he said.

Using spaces for alternative business currently seems like a good idea to not get terribly hit by the economic crisis.?

However, as mentioned before, not every hotel or a resort owns a large pool that can be used as a alternative source of income.?

Even as the country enters a new phase of unlock, the future of tourism, especially international tourism remains clouded.?