With hotels and restaurants shutting down amid fuel shortages and dwindling patronage, Kerala’s once-buoyant hospitality industry, which is dominated by Chinese and Arab cuisines of late, is slipping into distress.
The fallout has triggered a temporary reverse migration, with a significant number of migrant workers returning to their home States, several of which are heading into elections. However, whether jobs will be available when they return to Kerala remains an open question, given the global supply chain disruptions caused by the West Asian crisis. The prospects for lakhs who depend on key sectors also remain bleak and uncertain.
A delegation led by the Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association (KHRA) has met the Commissioner of Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs seeking urgent intervention to ensure that commercial establishments which use LPG can remain open and to prevent migrant workers, who form the majority of the workforce in Kerala, from returning to their home States.
According to G. Jayapal, State president of KHRA, which represents around 60,000 registered hoteliers in Kerala, nearly 70% of eateries have shut down operations, while the remaining 30% are functioning with restricted hours and pared-down menus due to the fuel shortage.
