Thiruvananthapuram: When December 2020 was drawing to a close after hurdling through a catastrophic year, the temperatures in Munnar, one of Kerala's most preferred tourism spots, started slipping below zero. The chilly winds and the mist-covered surroundings were helping Munnar to breathe back to life. There were long queues of vehicles at various spots in Munnar waiting to get entry tickets and the smiles on the faces of local people started beaming again. Couples were happily clicking away selfies, with the lush greenery in the background with their masks on and keeping a distance from those around. There were no foreign tourists to be seen as the flight operations from abroad are yet to be completely operational.
Going local is the new mantra that the tourism department is propagating to pull the ailing tourism industry from the ghettoes of loss. If the trends are anything to go by, Kerala's tourism industry is on its path of revival and the stakeholders believe with the mass vaccination plans already on the cards, it would soon climb back to the days of its glorious past.
“We launched a new tourism campaign called “Change of Air' which is now extensively broadcast and promoted over print media, electronic media, FM, digital and social media and this has got a lot of traction among the tourists,” Kerala Tourism Director P Balakiran IAS, says. Domestic tourists, who have been fatigued over several months of home confinement are now taking up what is called 'revenge tourism' and are visiting new places, he adds.
When travel comes to the mind of any Indian, Kerala is easily one among the top favorites and the state is now regaining its lost composure in the Tourism sector with the rush of these 'revenge tourists'.
Though the tourism department is yet to tabulate the number of visitors across the state after all the major tourism centres opened up by November 1, last year, the rough calculations show significant growth in the arrival of domestic tourists.
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For example, in the Eravikulam National Park in Idukki, which is famous for its mountain goat population that forage through the steep rocky mountains, the number of visitors shows a steady increase. When the park reopened in October last year, 6104 visitors visited the park in one month. The number rose to 21766 in November and more than doubled to 43,509 in December. The 9 tourism centres in Idukki which fall under District Tourism Promotion Council recorded 1,41,396 visitors after they were opened in October.
Tour operators and the hospitality industry point towards a similar growth in the arrival of tourism centres across such centres in the state. Now travelers from all parts of India have started coming down to Kerala. A good number of visitors are coming from the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu as well.
“After December 2nd week, more people from North India are coming to Kerala and are coming forward for houseboat cruise. This is giving a lot of hope for this sector. We collect all the details of the guests who come for houseboat cruise and hand over that to the tourism department and they hand it over to the health department. We also ensure strict Covid protocol while operating our houseboats and while entertaining our guests,” Honey Gopal Kailasam, an office-bearer of House Boat Owners' Society says.
There are restrictions on allowing people above 60 and children below 10 to the tourism centres controlled by the government agencies. Domestic tourists believe that once these restrictions are lifted there will be more people coming to visit Kerala.
The efforts of the Kerala government and Tourism department have also helped the large workforce that depends on this segment. Tourism Minister had chalked out a Rs 4500 crore relief package and even tour guides were paid a solatium of Rs.10,000 to make up for the loss in wages. Kerala Government had also put a step ahead to encourage the arrival of domestic tourists by commissioning 26 new tourism projects that have been completed in 14 districts at a cost outlay of Rs. 59.51 crores.
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Kerala suffered a massive Rs. 35000 crore loss in tourism after Covid stuck in January last year. In 2019, Kerala received 11, 89,771 foreign tourists and 1, 83,84,233 domestic tourists, a growth of 8.5 percent and 11.81 percent respectively compared to the previous year. Kerala's tourism industry contributes roughly 40 percent to the State's revenue.
