Houseboats resume operations in Kerala

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

Giving a breather to the state’s tourism sector, houseboats have resumed their operations. At least 24 houseboats carrying 119 tourists reemerged in Alappuzha on Sunday. District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) secretary M Malin said that almost all tourists in these houseboats were Malayalees.

In Alappuzha, which is the most popular destination for houseboat tourism in Kerala, the vessels are now allowed to operate from Punnamada finishing-point and Pallathuruthy.

“Mainly the tourists from Kerala and Tamil Nadu are booking now,” said Maneesh A, managing director of Amrutham Houseboats. Even though Kerala has more than 1,500 houseboats as per the port department, only 833 are registered as per rules. While the Alappuzha port has 769 registered houseboats, Kollam has 34, seven at Kodungallur, 18 at Azhikkal, and five at Beypore. The Covid-19 has affected the houseboat industry in a bad way that came to a standstill leaving at least 4300 people unemployed in the sector.

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