Tourism industry fears worst amid virus outbreak
TRIVANDRUM: Kerala tourism board claimed robust growth in arrivals in the God’s Own Country, as they call themselves, amidst industry circles fears the worst after Covid-19 outbreak.
It said the state had the highest growth in 24 years, attracting some 19.6 million domestic and foreign visitors in 2019, registering an annual increase of 17.2 per cent.
The industry was complaining of the worst floods in the last consecutive years and the state’s failure to rebuild the collapsed roads leading to widespread cancellations.
Last year’s Nipah outbreak and three positive cases of new coronavirus, the first to be reported in India last month, also, they say, scare away guests.
However, a statement issued by the Kerala Tourism Thursday, said the total earnings from tourism stood at Rs 450 billion, notching a robust 24.14 per cent increase.
The total number of tourists was pegged at 19,574,004, of whom there were 18,384,233 domestic tourists and 1,189,771 visitors from abroad.
In 2018, the number of tourists visiting Kerala was 1,67,01,068 (domestic tourists 1,56,04,661 and foreign tourists 10,96,407).
Tourism secretary Rani George said an aggressive, multi-pronged strategy achieved the massive growth in arrivals in the face of most adverse circumstances.
“We allayed the apprehensions of visitors by holding roadshows in our traditional and emerging markets,” she said.
“The upsurge in tourist arrivals is a testament to the resilience and vibrancy of the tourism sector of the state.” Tourism director P. Bala Kiran attributed the growth to new attractions like Champions Boat League with the potential to transform Kerala into a 365-day destination.
“We were able to overcome the horrendous consequences of unprecedented floods in double-quick time,” he said.
“The damaged infrastructure was repaired swiftly, and we were able to send out a strong message across the globe that Kerala is ready to embrace them.” The growth rate in the inflow of domestic tourists was 17.81 per cent while for the foreign tourist arrivals, it was 8.52 per cent.
“Kerala registered an increase of 2.78 million domestic tourists as compared to the previous year,” it said. The total foreign exchange earnings from tourism crossed Rs 100 billion for the first time, touching a figure of Rs 102.71 billion and registering a growth of 17.19 per cent.