Thiruvananthapuram: Seeking to ensure the welfare of tourism sector employees, an initiative called the Kerala Tourism Fraternity Social Welfare Cooperative Society Limited (KTFCS) has been launched in the state.
Besides ensuring a better working atmosphere in the sector, the new co-operative society would take the lead in finding capital, loans and resource mobilisation in the tourism sector, official sources said.
Minister for Tourism and Co-operation Kadakampally Surendran launched the platform here at a function on Sunday.
He said tourism enterprises should aim to tap the cooperative sector for finance, especially in view of the reluctance of the public sector banks to provide loans to the cash-stressed tourism sector.
"Kerala's cooperative sector is very large. However, it has not been able to make its presence felt in the tourism sector. KTFCS will be able to bring a change to this," Surendran said.
KTFCS would be able to revive the tourism sector by coordinating the activities of regional tourist centres and the stakeholders by forming societies to solve their problems, the minister added.
The minister also unveiled the logo of KTFCS at the function.
Although the government had many programmes to support the tourism sector during pandemic times, KTFCS would be very helpful to those working in the sector, said Rani George, Principal Secretary, Tourism.
The society was created from the lessons learnt from the experience of the pandemic and it would result in bringing a better working atmosphere to the sector, said P Bala Kiran, Director, Tourism.
Anish Kumar PK, Chief Promoter of KTFCS, said the society is being formed keeping in mind the development of the tourism sector and the welfare of those working in it.
It was when the tourism sector was reeling under the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic that the idea to start KTFCS was originated and it received much support from the tourism department, said Vinod CS, President, Association of Tourism Trade Organisations, India (ATTOI) during the function.
