‘How will high value tourists arrive if liquor shops are closed on first of every month’; dry day is a problem, Biju Prabhakar 

KOCHI: How will high value tourists reach Kerala if liquor shops are closed on the first day of every month, asked transport secretary Biju Prabhakar, in charge of aviation. He added that he doesn’t understand why there is a dry day in Kerala and many objections arise when the government tries to oppose it. Biju Prabhakar pointed that the reason why foreign yacht tourists do not come to Kochi is because of the lack of such facilities.

'High value tourists should be brought to Kerala. It won’t happen overnight and it should be campaigned. As many people go for destination weddings in Jaipur, Jodhpur etc, we should implement such schemes here also. The main problem here is that bars are closed on the first day of every month. It should be changed. It is very difficult for the hoteliers to say that nothing can be done if the wedding or other events are held on the first day of the months. The tourism department is constantly intervening to change this,' says Biju Prabhakar.

Meantime, there was a demand to avoid dry days to make tourism more attractive. There were reports earlier that the state government is also planning to avoid observing the first day of every month as dry day in Kerala. If the closure of liquor shops is lifted on the first day, then 12 additional working days will be available. There will be a big increase in income also. These are considered as proposals to increase the revenue of the government.

A discussion was held in the meeting of the departmental secretaries chaired by the chief secretary in the month of March regarding the removal of dry day on the first day of the month. It is not only the loss of income due to the loss of 12 working days in a year that is the impetus for entering into such an idea. The reason behind thinking to avoid dry day is that there is a big setback in the tourism sector as well.