Kerala’s tourism is infected following three confirmed cases of coronavirus

• After 3 confirmed coronavirus cases, Kerala fears mass cancellations from tourists
  
• State tourism minister Kadakampally Surendran said the hotels have seen mass cancellations.
  
• Business Insider India reached out to online travel portals like EaseMyTrip and Cleartrip to assess the impact of Coronavirus on Kerala Tourism. They say that the demand remains strong as of now.

The outbreak of coronavirus in Kerala has cast a shadow on the state’s vibrant tourist inflow. After the state reported three confirmed coronavirus cases, even its border states like Karnataka have turned alert.

State tourism minister Kadakampally Surendran said the hotels have seen mass cancellations.

“After the Nipah virus and deadly floods, the coronavirus outbreak has also adversely impacted the holiday industry as hotel bookings during February-March have been cancelled widely across the state, '' he said in a press conference.

Business Insider India reached out to online travel portals like EaseMyTrip and Cleartrip to assess the impact of Coronavirus on Kerala Tourism. They say that the demand remains strong as of now.

Too early to asses, say travel portals

Balu Ramachandran, senior vice president of Cleartrip believes that it is very early to say conclusively if there will be any discernible impact on travel with respect to Coronavirus

“As of now, we haven't received any updates from airlines for flight cancellations for Kerala. However, we have observed a few cancellations of hotel bookings especially of women travellers,” Prashant Pitti, co-founder and executive director of EaseMyTrip.

If any, this will be the third time that the state’s tourism sector has been hit. Two years ago in August 2018, Kerala was swept away by deadly monsoon rains taking as many as 504 lives. In all, 23 million were affected and the losses for the state mounted to $2.7 billion.

In June 2019, 17 people were killed in 21 days after catching Nipah virus infection (NiV) that too like Coronavirus has no cure.

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