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Kerala launches in-car dining to boost tourism affected by Covid-19
Under the initiative, restaurants operated by Kerala Tourism will offer food to customers, who can then eat them while sitting inside their vehicles
Ever since the ongoing coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic hit India, dining out has been affected due to a majority of the country’s population preferring to not take the risk of getting exposed. Aimed to meet this challenge and also boost tourism in the state, Kerala has launched in-car dining, news agency ANI reported. Under this initiative, the restaurants operated by the Kerala Tourism Department Corporation (KTDC) across the state will offer tourists local cuisine while they are sitting inside their vehicles.
The state tourism minister PA Mohammed Riyas told ANI that amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, “instead of dining inside a restaurant and mingling with the crowd, the in-car dining initiative will ensure safety to the tourists coming to Kerala".
During the launch of the project, Kayamkulam MLA U Pratibha was also present alongside Riyas.
Notably, the in-car dining initiative has been launched at a time when tourism in Kerala, which accounts for 11 per cent of the state domestic product (SDP), incurred loss due to Covid-19.
The Kerala government announced of starting the in-car dining project earlier in June. At that time, Riyas had said that customers can place their orders at KTDC’s Aahaar restaurants, and that the in-car dining will cover all meals throughout the day – breakfast, lunch and dinner apart from snacks.
Riyas stated that only KTDC restaurants will be responsible for carrying out the scheme. "We plan to reach out to the people with safe and tasty food. KTDC hotel chains will be renovated under the project 'Mission Facelift' after classifying them on a priority basis," he added.
The tourism minister also suggested the idea of completely vaccinated tourism and even finding new tourism destinations in the state. According to the ANI report, he informed that Kerala government has initiated a project in which a new such tourism destination will be recognised in every panchayat. Furthermore, Riyas told ANI, several projects to develop new heritage and pilgrim tourism destinations to attract maximum domestic tourists, are also in the pipeline.
