Kerala Tourism seems to have regained the pre-flood tourist footfall as an impressive growth rate of 14.8 % has been registered in the second quarter of the current year as against the figures of the corresponding period last year.
An increase of 6,39,271 tourists, including domestic and foreign, has been registered during April-June this year.
In the first quarter ending March, 46,12,937 tourists arrived compared to 43,18,406 during the same period in 2018.
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The number of domestic tourists during the second quarter of 2019 increased to 47,73,739 compared to 41,49,122 during the same period a year earlier, clocking a hefty 15.05% growth. As many as 1,82,320 foreign tourists came in the second quarter of 2019 -- a growth rate of 8.74% as compared to the same period the previous year.
Ernakulam tops list
Of the 14 districts, Ernakulam registered the highest increase of 1.71 lakh, followed by Idukki with 1.35 lakh.
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Except Kollam and Thrissur, all the other districts showed positive growth. Ernakulam attracted the highest number of domestic tourists with an increase of 1.57 lakh and Idukki followed with an increase of 1.31 lakh.
Overall, there was an increase of 14,654 international tourists during April-June 2019 when compared with 1,67,666 registered during the corresponding period a year earlier. “This clearly indicates that Kerala has now overcome the negative trend in arrival of foreign guests, which was largely caused by the floods,” Minister for Tourism Kadakampally Surendran said in a release.
In fact, 11 of the 14 districts registered positive growth in foreign tourist arrivals during April-June. Ernakulam witnessed the highest increase with a footfall of 87,058 as compared to 72,496 the previous year. The second highest increase was registered in Idukki with 12,409, an increase of 4,145 over the previous quarter.