Tourism Minister holds high level meeting to discuss crisis in sector

A day after assuming charge, Minister for Public Works and Tourism P.A. Mohamed Riyas held a meeting of top officials of Tourism Department today to discuss immediate interventions needed to support and revive the vital sector battered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Minister told the meeting that it was important to make all possible interventions in the sector to address the concerns of the entrepreneurs, employees and other stakeholders.

As part of this, a meeting will be held with the State Level Bankers Committee to explore what the top lenders can do to support the sector as the crisis in the tourism sector could eventually harm the whole economy of the state.

The Minister emphasized that it was vitally important to straightaway work out strategies and implement them fast to reactivate tourism. As part of this process, discussions should be held with the domain experts from within the state and outside, Mr. Riyas said.

He said a meeting of the top officials of the agencies and departments concerned would be convened shortly to discuss implementation of the Central tourism schemes.

The meeting was attended by Rani George IAS, Principal Secretary, Tourism, and V R Krishna Teja IAS, Director, Department of Tourism.