Published on : Wednesday, November 25, 2020
In a weird situation the hotel owners say banks are not extending loans which are crucial to do repairs and make hotels ready to receive guests while the banks are worried about the bleak prospects of repayment as the Covid situation is still fluid.
The sectors want specific financial packages for them for revival if at all visitors start arriving.
The opening of the tourism sector and beaches recently gave much-needed relief to the hotels and restaurants in the state.
However, the sector hasn’t received the required boost as many of the hotels haven’t begun their operations, especially in premium tourism areas like Kovalam.
Officials of the Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association (KHRA) allege that the government and private banks are not giving loans to the tourism industry to revive their business.
They add that the lack of support from the Central and state governments is worsening their woes.
The tourism industry was already in a deep crisis as all hotels had been shut down from March following the pandemic.
Most of the hotel owners were paying the staff salaries and did essential maintenance works with zero revenue.
“When we approach a bank for a loan, the response from the officials is that no loans are being given to the tourism or hospitality industry. This instruction is from the head offices of the respective banks,” said R Sisupalan, owner of Sagara Beach Resort and KHRA Kovalam unit president.
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