Kerala launches in-car dining to give fillip to tourism

Thiruvananthapuram: Tourists coming to Kerala will now be able to savour delicious local cuisine while sitting in the comfort of their cars as the state Tourism Department launched in-car dining to boost tourism and also to meet the challenges of COVID-19.

The restaurants run by Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) across the state will cater to tourists with in-car dining.

To know how it feels like dining in a car, Kerala Tourism Minister PA Mohammed Riyas himself had his favourite dishes sitting inside his car.

"The in-car dining is a project designed to give a boost to Kerala tourism sector hit badly by COVID-19. To revive we are launching this project by which tourists coming to Kerala will be able to use this service. Amid COVID-19 pandemic, instead of dining inside a restaurant and mingling with the crowd, such a project will also ensure safety," said Riyas.

Kayamkulam MLA U Pratibha also joined the minister during the launch of the project.

This venture comes at a time when tourism, which is a mainstay of Kerala that contributes to 11 per cent to state SDP, incurred loss due to COVID-19.

To overcome the crisis, the Kerala government also has mooted the idea of complete vaccinated tourism and also to find new tourism destinations.

The Tourism Minister said the state has initiated a project in which a new destination will be identified in every Panchayat. There are also projects in the pipeline to develop new heritage and pilgrim tourism destinations to attract maximum domestic travellers.