Union minister of state for tourism Alphons Kannanthanam has thrown up a moot point that political parties in Kerala should ponder on.
Kannanthanam recently was blunt enough to point out that frequent hartals were having an adverse impact on Kerala and the tourism sector. He has a valid point.
On Friday, Kannanthanam's own Bharatiya Janata Party had observed a hartal in the state.
The state has so far observed 97 shut-downs in 2018. This includes local, district and statewide hartals. If you thought that was a bit too much, you are wrong.
Compared to the previous year, the figure has actually come down. In 2017, there were 120 hartals in Kerala, with Kannanthanam's own party and affiliates accounting for 41 of them.
This year so far, the BJP has managed to disrupt normal life only 33 days.
The LDF, despite being in power, has managed to organise 21 and 17 shut-downs in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
The UDF is also not far behind.
In Kerala, hartal, an euphemism for a total shut-down of normal life, is a way of life. Not for tourists though.
On Friday, nearly 2,500 foreigners had a taste of hartal tourism in Kochi, the commercial capital of the state. They were taken for a ride with police escort, thanks to a coordinated action by state police and Kannanthanam's ministry itself.
The statewide figure of tourists forced to stay indoors due to the national pastime of political parties in Kerala is nearly half a lakh, according to reports.
As per industry estimates, there has been nearly 40 per cent dip in tourist arrivals in the state compared to the previous year. The August floods that battered the state had slowed down the tourist inflow, but the latest hartal call was made when there was a gradual revival in tourism industry.
Kerala, which showcases itself as God's Own Country, should be striving to grab a major chunk of the Rs 1.8 lakh crore revenues that the country got from tourism.
In May, an all-party meet called by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had decided in principle to exempt tourism sector from hartals.
That remains on paper.
There is no political consensus on issues that are of importance to the state.
That is why a sector which accounts for nearly 10 per cent of the total gross state domestic product (GSDP) – the figure is way beyond the potential - gets such shoddy treatment.
In 2016, tourism accounted for nearly 12 per cent of GSDP and the target then was to hike it to 20 per cent in five years.
That seems to be a remote possibility.
At this rate, the state should seriously think about how to promote hartal tourism as curbing shut-downs seems to be politically a pipe dream.
Only that can ensure that the tourism sector benefits even on hartal days.
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