Operators of classified homestays have demanded that they be permitted to tap and serve toddy. The demand comes in the wake of the State Cabinet deciding to issue licence to restaurants located in tourism locales to serve beer and wine during the tourist season, and to permit hotels rated three-star and upwards and resorts in such locales to tap palms on their premises and to serve toddy.
Referring to how toddy tapping is already a part of experiential tourism packages offered across Kerala, the homestay operators cite how toddy tapping as an experience has been part and parcel of the responsible-tourism framework. “Sadly, the excise rules do not permit us to serve to our guests the toddy tapped from coconut and palmyrah palms on our premises. This anomaly has continued for years, though much of the toddy that is sold through regular toddy shops is adulterated,” said M.P. Sivadattan, Director of Kerala Homestay and Tourism Society (Kerala-HATS).
