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The Covid-19 pandemic is forcing tourism companies to think outside of the box to stay afloat. Take a Kerala hotel and spa that turned its pristine pool into a fish farm, for example.
The Aveda Resort and Spa in Kumarakom, Kerala, had to close its operations in March, as part of a coronavirus lockdown across the country, and has been unable to open since.
To ensure that its employees are active and that the property generates some income to pay basic bills and to survive until tourism reopens, management decided to repurpose a 7.5 million-liter pool as a fish pond.
“We have had no income, so in June we put around 16,000 2-month-old pearl spot fish in the pool,” Aveda CEO Jyotish Surendran told AFP.
“We plan to harvest in November and will export to the Middle East.”
Surendran estimates that Aveda will be able to harvest around four million tons of pearlfish from the makeshift pond, which they plan to sell for around $ 40,000 in the Middle East.
That’s not enough to cover the losses incurred by the business during the shutdown, but at least it keeps staff busy and should help pay for maintenance bills.
“The rectangular pool is 150 meters long and 50 meters wide, with a uniform depth that is ideal for aquaculture. We started fish farming on June 1, which would give enough time for harvest at Christmas, ”added the manager.
“After consulting with the experts, we decided to go for pearl spots, as they are endemic to this region. So we emptied the pool and pumped fresh water from Lake Vembanad to provide an ideal environment for the 16,000 seedlings we bought from four sources. “
Now that they’ve had a taste of fish farming, the hotel staff don’t want to let it go even when tourism finally reopens, and Aveda Resort and Spa management is already planning to continue fish farming somewhere else nearby. so you can at least get fresh fish for the guests.
