Tourist arrivals has gone up by an impressive 6.82% in the first quarter of 2019 in the State as compared to the figures of corresponding period in the previous year.
Arrivals, including domestic and foreign, was 46,12,937 during January-March 2019 when compared to 43,18,406 during the same period in 2018. As many as 41,90,468 domestic tourists arrived in the first three months as against the 38,77,712 during the corresponding period in 2018, registering an increase of 8.07%. Tourist statistics released by Kerala Tourism show a fall in foreign tourists by 4.14%.
The increase in domestic tourist footfalls, especially in Ernakulam, Alappuzha and Idukki districts, shows that the tourism sector has recovered after the August floods.
In fact, Ernakulam, with an increase of 1,08,169 domestic tourists, registered the highest growth among the 14 districts. The total number of domestic tourist arrivals in this district was pegged at 9,96,091 during January-March this year as against the 8,87,922 in the same period of 2018.
The number of domestic tourists was 3,43,938 (2,48,052 in 2018) in Idukki, 1,80,562 (1,32,442) in Alappuzha, 2,10,247 (1,84,389) in Kannur and 3,20,795 (2,76,188) in Kozhikode. Kollam, Kottayam, Malappuram, Wayanad and Palakkad also registered growth in domestic tourist arrivals.
However, Thrissur and Thiruvananthapuram districts showed negative trends in domestic arrivals, which was possibly due to the downtrend in the visit of pilgrim tourists to the temples of Guruvayur and Sree Padmanabhaswamy.
In the case of foreign tourists during January-March, the total number stood at 4,22,469 as against the 4,40,694 in the corresponding period of the previous year, registering a decline of 4.14 %.
Thiruvananthapuram, including the beach destinations of Kovalam and Varkala, witnessed the highest fall with a decrease of 27,760 tourists. The total number of footfalls of foreign visitors in the capital district was 1,08,787 as against the 1,36,547 in the corresponding period of 2018.
Ernakulam registered a dip of 22,667 tourists, but the districts of Idukki, Alappuzha and Kottayam (Kumarakom) marked a robust growth with an increase of 8,976; 8,541; and 9,593 tourists over the same period of 2018. Foreign tourist arrivals also went up in Kannur, Kasaragod, Kollam, Kozhikode, Pathanamthitta and Thrissur districts.
“There was rampant apprehension that Kerala’s tourism will take a long time to recover. But we were able to allay these apprehensions by swiftly putting in place an effective action plan to win back the confidence of tourists,” Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran said.
