Abstract

Houseboat tourism is a core segment of backwater tourism in Kumarakom. The uniqueness of this leisure expedition has eventually made Kumarakom a prominent Houseboat destination in Kerala’s itinerary. This research study is an attempt towards the revival of the houseboat tourism industry in the forthcoming period. Due to the Novel Coronavirus outbreak, the entire industry is facing an extremely hard situation to meet up the necessities of the big mass of labor force which is thoroughly reliant on this potential business sector. As it is a lively connected industry with different sections of the economy in both monetarily and service perspective, there is urgent need to address these issues to revive the industry at the earliest. This study focusses on the corona outbreak and its impact on the operations of Houseboat Tourism in Kumarakom and attempts to identify how covid-19 affected the rural people’s life who are part of Houseboat Tourism. The study uses a simple random technique with a structured questionnaire to collect data, where an exploratory research method is carried out while employing both quantitative and qualitative tools for assessing the data in order to generate accurate study results. The effective responses from the industrialists, service providers, various other stakeholders, and other operating bodies in Kumarakom are much in need to examine the present socio-economic barriers affecting the livelihood of the local public. The study outcomes explain the economic challenges faced by the local residents and houseboat tourism industry due to the pandemic outbreak.

Key words: Houseboat Tourism, SOPs, Covid-19, Local Community, Rural Tourism