Setting a role model for the entire country in insulating tourists from Covid-19 to the maximum, Kerala has rolled out an efficient and meticulous Bio-bubble model to create protective layers of mostly inoculated service providers to receive and host tourists.
Bio-bubbles are sanitized, safe, and secure environments, where people within them, likely to come into contact with tourists, are vaccinated.
The protective ring of the Bio-bubble will see that tourists landing in any airport in Kerala meet only vaccinated ground staff. From the airport, they can drive to their chosen destinations in cabs, provided by accredited tour operators, whose drivers are all vaccinated. The same goes for the hotels, resorts, or homestays they stay during their holiday, where the staff is vaccinated.
All tourism centers in Kerala re-opened and will be accessible to tourists who have had at least the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, or possessing a negative RTPCR test certificate taken before 72 hrs. This applies to hotels, resorts, homestays, houseboats, and open spaces of tourist interest.
For an early revival of the pandemic-ravaged travel and hospitality sector, Kerala had launched a highly successful, targeted campaign to vaccinate the entire population in tourism destinations, with Vythiri in Wayanad being declared as the first destination to achieve the status. The drive aims to inoculate entire stakeholders in the tourism industry and the campaign will soon be completed in all tourist destinations across the state.
“Safety of guests is non-negotiable as far as Kerala Tourism is concerned. The Bio-bubble initiative is meant to ensure that the tourists have a risk-free stay in our state. This is a critical factor for the revival of tourism, which has been clobbered by the pandemic. It was with this larger perspective that we successfully carried out the vaccination campaign covering the entire population in Vythiri. This initiative will tell the world that Kerala is a place where you can holiday safely,” said Mr.Mohamed Riyas.
“Kerala Tourism has outlived grim crises like devastating natural calamities like floods and epidemics that battered its infrastructure and economy. We have proved to be resilient by bouncing back from each crisis. Agreed, the Covid-19 pandemic has been unprecedented in its sweep and dimension. The best way to come out of this pandemic induced setback is to set the highest premium on the safety of tourists”, said Dr. Venu V IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Tourism, Govt. of Kerala.
The lockdown-weary people from all corners of the world will be treading to safe and healthy places when tourism opens up globally and nationally. Going by our natural assets and advanced social milieu, Kerala has immense scope to tap the incoming rush to unpolluted and less crowded spaces. Creation of a safety shield like the bio-bubble is a vital component in keeping the state tourism sector ready”, said Mr. V R Krishna Teja IAS, Director of Tourism, Kerala.
With the Kerala Government setting its goal of inoculating the whole eligible population at the shortest possible span, the Covid-19 vaccination programme is progressing at a brisk pace throughout the state. So far, over 43.37 percent of the state’s total population have been administered the first dose of vaccine and 18.08 percent with both doses.
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