KANNUR: Though the district has historical sites, beaches, folklore, backwaters, eco-tourism spots and a rich handloom tradition, it is yet to emerge as a tourist attraction.

Despite various tourism-related initiatives over the last few years to woo tourists to North Malabar, the percentage of tourists visiting Kannur is poor compared to that of the southern parts of the State.

Tourism industry is yet to develop as an important economic activity in the region. Figures show that the percentage of tourists visiting the district has seldom exceeded six per cent of the total flow of tourists to the State in a year.

A proposal for a tourism master plan for Kannur, circulated among local MLAs and the MP at a meeting convened by Home and Tourism Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan here on August 5, shows that though there has been an increase in the number of tourists, both foreign and domestic, visiting Kannur, over the years, it is still very low when compared to the number of tourists reaching the State.

In 1997, only 146 of the 1,82,427 foreign tourists who came to Kerala visited Kannur. In 2000, the number of foreign tourists visiting Kannur rose to 1,415 as against 2,09,933 in the State and in 2004, it was 2,516 as against a total of 3,45,546 foreign tourists who came to the State.

Domestic tourists

The figures also show that there has been a steady increase in the flow of domestic tourists to Kannur: 68,147 in 1997, 76,565 in 2000 and 32,3645 in 2004, while the number of domestic tourists who reached the State in the corresponding years is 49,53,401, 76,565 and 3,23,645 respectively. Since 2001, the number of domestic tourists in the district has been 3.2 lakhs annually.

The total tourist flow in the district is marginal when compared to that in the State: 68,293 (out of 51,35,828) in 1997, 77,980 (52,23,154) in 2000 and 3,26,161 (63,17,728) in 2004.

The people's representatives, who participated in the meeting on Saturday, stressed the need to complete the ongoing projects to attract more tourists, especially domestic tourists. While A.P. Abdullakkutty, MP, and P. Jayarajan, MLA, stressed the need to highlight the culture of Malabar to promote tourism, MLAs K. Sudhakaran and M. Prakashan emphasised need to develop the beaches.

MLAs K.C. Joseph and K.K. Shylaja sought development of eco-tourism areas in the hill areas and C.K.P. Padmanabhan, MLA, said the thrust should be on folklore.

According to Rejiv Manuel, tourism planner, associated with C-Earth Centre that submitted a proposal for the master plan, the district has good potential to be developed as an international tourism destination. Only a master plan can integrate the ideas expressed at the meeting.

The plan should cover land use master planning, infrastructure development and socio-economic and environment components, among others, he said.

The historic areas of Kannur, Thalassery, Payyannur, Ezhimala, Chirakkal, Puralimala and Kottayam palace, pilgrim centres such as Parassinikkadavu, Kottiyur and Taliparamba, eco-tourism areas such as Aralam and Pythalmala and beaches at Muzhappilangad, Payyambalam and Meenkunnu are among the spots identified for developing tourism in the district.

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