It may be ‘God’s Own Country,’ and one of ‘50 places of a lifetime’ to some, but Kerala has found it difficult to climb up the popularity charts among domestic tourists.
The Union Tourism Ministry’s provisional figures for Domestic Tourist Arrivals for 36 States and Union Territories for 2016 has kept Kerala pegged at 18th position, unchanged from the previous year, despite an aggressive State marketing campaign and enhanced budgetary support.
Domestic tourist arrivals refers to holiday-makers who stay overnight in lodges, hotels, guest houses, paying guest facility, tented accommodation or even house boats. Sabarimala pilgrims are also not included, an official in the Research Wing of Kerala Tourism said.
Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh score first and second ranks for the year. Madhya Pradesh is third, and Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra are in fourth, fifth and sixth positions. West Bengal pipped Telangana for seventh position, while Gujarat and Rajasthan follow. Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Punjab, Delhi, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh are all ahead of Kerala, raising the pressure on tourism officials who have pursued aggressive marketing.
A 5.67% increase in domestic tourist inflow in 2016 compared to the previous year has not helped Kerala enter the ‘top 10’ list. With 1,31,72,535 domestic tourist arrivals in the year, the State famous for picturesque beaches, backwaters, hills and cultural finery stood rooted at rank 18.
Industry sees handicaps
Lack of extensive air connectivity, curbs on liquor sale and difficulties with holiday facilities, dining and entertainment block growth, said Chairman of the Confederation of Tourism Industry, Kerala, E. M. Najeeb. The private sector wants the State to improve infrastructure. The State’s growth of 5.67% in domestic tourists is well below the 15.5% rise for all States and UTs during 2016, over 2015. Last year, the arrival numbers for States/UTs as a whole was 1,653 million, against 1,432 million in 2015.
A top official of Kerala Tourism, who requested anonymity, said the accuracy of the survey carried out by other States should be gone into, as they apparently did not go for a total survey as Kerala Tourism had done. Total survey is the collection of tourist arrivals both domestic and foreign by the Department of Statistics.
“Compared to other states, we have purely leisure tourists who come for holidaying. We are going to Tier III cities to promote the destination and tour products sought by industry partners. Marketing should also be changed suitably”, he said.
Foreign tourist arrivals to Kerala in 2016 were 10,38,419 compared to 9,77, 479 in 2015. Foreign exchange earnings from the sector stood at ₹ 7749.51 crore.
