Kerala Onam celebrations to be held virtually this year

In light of COVID-19 travel restrictions, Minister P A Mohammed Riyas said on Sunday that the Tourism Department would be celebrating Onam virtually this year to promote domestic tourism and bring Malayalees from all over the world together on a digital platform.

The minister stated that meetings have been held at panchayat level in all districts of the state to identify undiscovered tourist destinations in various districts and collating them on an app so that they could be brought to the attention of everyone around the world.

He explained that the decision was made because the tourism sector lost Rs 33,000 crore and foreign exchange earnings fell by Rs 7,000 crore as a result of the pandemic from March 2020 to December 2020. Since 2016, the number of tourists, both domestic and foreign, has decreased dramatically, he added.

In response to a question about virtual Onam celebrations, the minister stated that as part of this new initiative, Kerala’s arts, culture, food varieties, and prominent tourist destinations would be virtualized using visual media and other means. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will open the event on August 14, he said.

As part of the initiative, a ‘world flower arrangement competition’ will be held, with online registrations beginning on August 10th, he added. Malayalees from all over the world can enter the competition by uploading their ‘onampookkalam,’ or flower arrangement, to the Tourism Department’s digital platform.

The minister also stated that this action was taken because Onam celebrations had to be postponed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The minister stated that meetings have been held at the panchayat level in all of the state’s districts to identify and develop unexplored tourist destinations and that maps of such locations have been created in each panchayat.

He explained that these maps would be compiled and uploaded to the app so that people all over the world could see new places to visit and explore. Another goal of the virtual Onam celebrations, according to him, is to make every Malayalee in the world a brand ambassador for Kerala tourism.