Kerala - Others   

Dutch chartered flights to miss tourist season

By S. Anil Radhakrishnan

KOVALAM, SEPT. 14. Chartered flights that brought `upmarket' tourists from Netherlands to God's Own Country for the first time last year will not operate to the State this tourist season.

"The poor response from the chartered tourists from Netherlands is the main reason behind the charter operators decision not to operate to Kerala in the forthcoming tourist season. The profit margin was also less during last year's charter operations", the manager of the firm that handled the Dutch tourists in the capital told The Hindu .

Poor response

The poor response from Dutch tourists, who started arriving for the first time to Kerala last year, had forced the operators to wind up the operations by March 7. The charter operations from Netherlands, which was to begin in November and conclude in April, commenced only from December 7. Tourism sources said the lack of marketing in Netherlands was the main reason for the poor response from Dutch tourists.

"The chartered flights from Netherlands will operate directly to Goa this season as in the previous years. The Dutch tourists who arrive by these chartered flights and opt for the South India package covering Kerala will arrive via road and by air", he added.

Uncertainty

Although there is only hardly one month for the tourist season to commence officially, uncertainty prevails in the travel trade over the arrival of chartered flights from Russia. A chartered flight from Russia had arrived in December with some high-spending tourists and raised high hopes among the local trade, but there were no flights after the inaugural flight. Tourism sources cite the lack of publicity as the reason for the non-operation of flights.

The confirmation that Dutch chartered tourists will not arrive and the `dumping' of the destination by chartered tourists has caused panic among the hospitality industry and travel trade. The decision is likely to affect the hotels in the beach resort of Kovalam. Of the 300-odd hotels and restaurants in the resort, 70 are located in the hub of the resort between the bus station and the Light House. Majority of these hotels, especially those behind the Light House beach, depend on the chartered tourists.

First flight

Meanwhile, the first chartered flight carrying tourists from the United Kingdom will touch down in the capital on November 8 to herald another tourist season in the State. The flight from Gatwick in the United Kingdom via Bahrain, for a brief stopover for re-fuelling, will arrive at the international airport every Monday around 11 a.m. "The response to the charter operations are encouraging and the chartered flight operations will be on till March 2005", a spokesman of the local tour operator said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Kerala

News: Front Page | National | Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh | Karnataka | Kerala | New Delhi | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Updates: Breaking News |

Stories in this Section

• Dutch chartered flights to miss tourist season

Copyright © 2004, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu