The State-owned Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) that owns the largest chain of hotels and resorts in the State has been able to overcome the dip in tourist arrivals due to nipah, floods and landslips and register a profit of ₹69.6 lakh in the first quarter of 2019-20.
The State undertaking’s profit in the first quarter of the fiscal is a big achievement as the KTDC suffered a loss of ₹1.16 crore in 2018 when the occupancy dipped to an all-time low of 40%.
“The KTDC had registered a profit of ₹3.85 crore in 2016-17 and ₹6.03 crore in 2017-18 and the operating profit in the first quarter of the fiscal will be a big boost to the slew of development projects initiated,” according to the Managing Director Rahul R.
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The good domestic tourist arrivals and direct business had helped the KTDC afloat while the tourism industry is yet to fully recover from the impact of nipah, floods and landslips during the last two years.
The KTDC was also able to secure 5 star classification for the flagship property Hotel Mascot in the capital and open 22 new beer parlours, taking the total beer parlours to 53 resulting in increasing turnover.
Mr. Rahul, an Indian Revenue Service officer who is moving over to Kochi to assume charge as Managing Director of the Roads and Bridges Development Coporation Kerala (RBDCK) after a 30-month stint in the KTDC, said proper service training to the staff and branding of the beer parlours with new logo and uniform for the personnel have resulted in increased level of customer satisfaction and turnover.
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Food quality in the restaurants under the KTDC in the State has improved with the recruitment of 19 new cooks and three chefs as consultants. Under the KTDC Training In Service Enhancement (KTISE), Mr. Rahul said 429 employees were imparted training and this had also resulted in improving the service delivery.
New boats
The KTDC also launched two new boats in Thekkady for the holidayers and has come up with new packages for attracting tourists. New properties are also coming up in the State for the tourism corporation to develop. The KTDC is also gearing up for the new role of Destination Manager as announced in the 2019-20 budget to impart marketing and technical support to the tourist destinations.
Among the other measures to shore up revenue, the KTDC has also completed three years of pending audit, implemented pay revision after five years, enhanced the gratuity of employees from ₹10 lakh to ₹20 lakh and has also cleared all DA arrears due to the staff.