South India presents a sea of potential
What does it take to market South India in the international and domestic market? TRAVTALK asks travel industry players their viewpoints on how easy or difficult it is to do business in the region.
South India is emerging as a very important market for inbound tourism to India. As far as marketing is concerned, it’s a mixed bag, as many good properties are coming up in South India. It is very easy to sell Kerala as there’s a lot of demand for Ayurveda in Kerala and the infrastructure is also good in the state.
The South India market is growing year-on-year for the last three years. If you see the trend the occupancy levels are also growing. The segments that are growing and doing well for this market are inbound and MICE. This year between July and August was very good for our hotel and we are expecting it to go up further.
It’s tough to promote some destinations in South India not just in the international market, but also within India. We have a resort in Vayalar, but it’s tough to promote it as people don’t believe that a five-star resort can exist in Vayalar, which unlike Kumarakom or Kovalam is not a very well-known place. So, before promoting our property we are now trying to promote Vayalar as a tourist destination.
South India has a lot of potential, people want to visit the region, but the problem here is of guides there are very few multilingual guides. We have English-speaking guides, but there are very few Spanish-speaking and Italian-speaking guides. There are a lot of bottlenecks in many cities, in terms of inventories. Kochi has hotel options unlike places like Periyar, Tanjore and Trichy. We, as a DMC, have issues in operating larger groups or during season times, as we don’t get enough rooms to sell.
South India presents a great opportunity, we’ve seen a constant increase in our business. The city occupany has also grown, it presents a new flavour and good alternative. Earlier, people first came to North India and then perhaps visited South India a second time. A lot of tour operators are now doing a North and South combined tour which is a good thing, as it’s a longer itinerary and they spend longer time in the destination. With direct flights we are also seeing a constant rise in domestic business towards South India.
In terms of marketing, Kerala is doing a superb job, but it’s time to incorporate other states also in this itinerary, there’s still so much to be explored. We, at RARE, are trying to promote an itinerary that comes from Tamil Nadu right up to Kerala. We are looking at various options that connect our properties. Tamil Nadu and Kerala combined together make a very good itinerary.
In the years to come South India will see an increase in demand over supply. The number of flights coming into Kochi have increased and so have the number of cruise ships which will lead to increased demand of hotels. Kochi is growing as a MICE destination. The corporate market in Kerala, especially Kochi is growing with a lot of IT set-up coming up. The year 2017 is going to see a shortage of rooms in Kochi.
Kerala has been focusing on different products on a regular basis and the government has also initiated a different product strategy this time and I’m sure the inbound into Kerala is going to improve over the coming years. There has been an increase in inbound numbers and more focus on different products will surely bring in more numbers for the region.
The Kerala market has, over a period of time, become more popular. What you get in Kerala, you don’t get anywhere else — you have the backwaters, the mountains and the greenery. The way in which responsible tourism has been adopted by the state government that’s also a big help as it talks about sustainability and we need to sustain whatever we are promoting. The challenge is connectivity; we don’t have enough direct flights coming in to Kerala. Few things like greater connectivity and flexibility on liquor rules will help Kerala market go forward and make it a favourable destination among domestic and foreign clientele.