The beaches, parks and museums in Kerala, which have remained closed since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will be open for the public from Sunday. Incidentally, the state is also celebrating Kerala Piravi (Kerala Day) and is likely to see more visitors to these spots. Earlier in October, Kerala had opened other tourist destinations for the public. Officials of the Tourism Department had said that COVID-19 protocols will be in place as more tourism sectors will be opened for the public.
While opening more tourist sectors will bring relief to various stakeholders, including those who make a living from the sector, Kerala’s active COVID-19 cases stand at 91,190 as of Saturday.
According to The Hindu, signboards are being installed in public places near the tourist destinations that are being opened, listing out the do’s and don’ts. Touchpoint surfaces like handrails, which can be touched by people with their bare hands, will be sanitised regularly, it adds.
The department reportedly also plans to post ‘tourism police’ to help lifeguards. Kudumbashree workers have already been deployed at beaches. Though there is no controlled entry to beaches, security personnel will be deployed at certain points with sanitisers and temperature check facilities.
As per the report, for museums and parks with gated entry, the Tourism Department is planning to install the system of SMS or online booking.
Parking of vehicles near beaches, parks and other tourism spots will only be allowed for one hour.
According to reports, Minister for Tourism Kadakampally Surendran said that permits to open beaches were given considering that the tourism season in Kerala is about to start. The department has also been witnessing good responses when other tourism centres and operations like houseboats were opened in October. Tourism Secretary Rani George said that the response to tourism centres, which were opened in October, has been encouraging.