BESIDES depriving the Kerala Government of much-needed revenue, its anti-alcohol campaign also threatens to hit severely the foreign tourist inflow to the famed Kovalam beach, 13 km outside Thiruvananthapuram. Kovalam attracts 50,000 foreign tourists every year.
With guests banned from sipping their drinks on the beach or in restaurants without liquor permits only three of the 90-odd hotels and restaurants at Kovalam are licensed to serve liquor tour operators are being flooded with complaints from their clients that they are being denied the promised good time. Hence, European tour operators have begun to think twice about recommending Kovalam as a destination. "The Governments liquor policy will drastically affect tourism," says Francis Fernandez, vice-president of UVI Holidays, which runs weekly charters from Europe to Thiruvananthapuram. "Im having a difficult time explaining to my clients why they cant drink their beer on the beach. If this continues, I guess people like us will have to close shop and shift to Goa or some other destination."
What makes procuring beer difficult is the fact that Kovalam has just one IMFL shop a good 4 km away from many of the resorts and it sells only three bottles per person at a time. Prior to the new liquor policy, room boys were sent to buy beer for the day by the guests. But now anyone caught with more than their quota of beer can be fined Rs 25,000 or put in jail for six months or both. This makes it difficult for a tourist to buy a case of beer and keep it in his room. One tour operator points out that should any of his clients be arrested, his company could be sued in British courts for huge sums of money.
Any liquor procured has to be consumed inside the room by the guest and bills have to be shown in the event of a raid to prove that it was procured at a shop and not from the hotel. Recent police raids on restaurants have left many foreign tourists aghast. Says B.M. Khan, secretary of the Kovalam Resorts Welfare Association, an action group formed by hoteliers: "Our foreign guests dont want hard liquor. They need their beer. Many of them get upset when they see whats happening. The state Government has spent crores promoting Kerala as Gods own country but let me tell you this is now the devils own country. "
Khan and other fellow hoteliers feel that the Government should declare Kovalam an international tourist resort and open more beer outlets and relax some of the laws. They say that an additional Kovalam duty can be levied, thereby discouraging people from buying beer in Kovalam and selling it outside. Proposals to this effect have been sent to the state tourism department and Khan says that the bureaucracy understands their point of view but is helpless. Incidentally, during the peak season, 5,000 bottles of beer are consumed every day at Kovalam. This summer, clearly, will be different.
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