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Kerala tourism to focus on new markets; targets 20% growth
KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)
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Summary
Last month, Kerala Tourism had reported that 2017 was its best one in the last decade. Tourist footfalls into Kerala had increased by 10.94%, and the state welcomed a record 1.58 crore tourists from across the country and the world. Cities such as Kochi, Kovalam and Varkala were top picks, among overseas tourists, while Guruvayur and …
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Last month, Kerala Tourism had reported that 2017 was its best one in the last decade.
Tourist footfalls into Kerala had increased by 10.94%, and the state welcomed a record 1.58 crore tourists from across the country and the world.
Cities such as Kochi, Kovalam and Varkala were top picks, among overseas tourists, while Guruvayur and Thiruvananthapuram doubled up as other popular spots for domestic travellers.
Focusing on Offbeat Tourist Hubs
With the Kerala government publicising plans to double the number of international tourist arrivals and increasing domestic footfalls by 50%, by 2021, the focus is shifting towards the state’s offbeat tourist hubs.
“Destinations such as Kochi, Munnar, Thekkady, Alappuzha, Kumarakom, Varkala and Kovalam together account for 89% of all tourist arrivals to Kerala,” said P Bala Kiran, Director, Kerala Tourism.
“The government is now keen to focus on north Kerala, in an effort to increase the region’s present 4% share of total footfalls to 25% by 2021.”
The department said an additional 25 lakh tourists are expected to make their way to destinations such as Wayanad, Malappuram, Kozhikode and Kannur, on the back of this effort.
The completion of the soon-to-be inaugurated Kannur International Airport later this year, will be a key driver in the Kerala government’s push to promote offbeat tourist getaways.
The airport will be ready by September and will cater to over a million passengers in the first year itself.
“Aside of the airport, we are also investing a total of Rs 325 crore towards a first-of-its-kind Malabar cruise, which we hope will draw footfalls to Kerala’s Malabar coast in the north,” said Kiran.
Attracting International Tourists
The game-changer, however, could come by way of new tourism source markets. At present, the Kerala government’s favourite source markets are Western Europe — the UK accounts for 1.8 lakh visitors to Kerala every year — and the Middle East.
“Footfalls from the UAE alone have grown by 40% in the last five years, even as Saudi Arabia and Oman have entered our top 10 source markets,” said Kiran. “Going forward, we hope to tap potential in new markets such as China and South East Asia.”
With this, the state government is expected to increase its revenue from tourism.
“I’m not going so bullish on revenue generation because tourist arrival does not automatically double revenue, but we are very bullish about reaching 20% (growth rate) by 2021,” said Kiran.
More importantly, the government says this push will also see an estimated 4.5 lakh jobs hit the market in the next three years, with over a lakh jobs in the next 12 months.
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