The State recorded a 1.4% increase in domestic tourist arrivals in the first three quarters of the 2022 when compared to the corresponding pre-pandemic period in 2019, according to the statistics compiled by the Department of Tourism. The foreign tourist arrivals continue to remain sluggish, showing that there is still a long road to complete recovery.
Kerala clocked a footfall of 1,33,80836 domestic tourists in the first nine months of 2022 against 1,31,84227 tourist arrivals during the same period in 2019. Meanwhile, the foreign tourist arrivals recorded a 74.7% drop from the peak of 8,19,975 during the first three quarters in 2019 to 2,06,852 in the first three quarters of 2022.
James Kodianthara, chairman of the Kerala chapter of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), said it was heartening to see the buoyancy in the domestic sector amid lingering effects of the pandemic, but only a robust growth in the foreign segment will be a real boost for tourism sector.
“A foreigner spends around ten times that of a domestic tourist. If we keep up the growth momentum in the domestic segment, it would be beneficial to the hospitality industry. However, the recovery of sectors, such as wellness tourism and Ayurveda, largely depends on growth in foreign segment,” Mr. Kodianthara said.
“The recovery in the foreign segment depends on a slew of global factors, including changes in visa regimes in countries like the U.K., which sends the highest number of annual foreign tourists to Kerala,” said E M Najeeb, senior vice-president, IATO.
Further, global factors, such as improvement of situation in war-torn regions of Europe and economies emerging out of the shadow of global recession fears, are expected to boost the international tourist arrivals in Kerala, according to experts. November, December, and January months are the peak season for foreign tourist arrivals in Kerala.
