The Hindu : Kerala News : Foreign tourist arrivals up

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Sep 22, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala

Foreign tourist arrivals up

John L. Paul

Bad roads might hamper fortunes of hospitality sector

KOCHI: Tourist arrivals to Kerala were largely unaffected, despite the scourge of chikunguniya taking a heavy toll within the State. However, players in the hospitality sector were keeping their fingers crossed, since never before had the condition of roads been this bad in the State.

According to statistics, the arrival of foreign tourists showed an increase of 20.05 per cent from January to June 2007, as compared to the same period last year. While 2,24,028 foreign tourists arrived here from January to June 2006, the number was 2,68,943 for the same period this year.

The arrival of domestic tourists showed an increase of 7.03 per cent in the same period, as compared to 2006. While 32,75,267 came this year, 30,60,074 arrived here in 2006.

With Kerala’s tourist season set to begin in October, Tourism Secretary V. Venu was hopeful that the overall increase in tourist arrivals in the whole of 2007 would maintain the growth seen in 2006 – 21 per cent increase for foreign tourists and 5 per cent in the case of domestic tourists. “All indicators say that we will be able to have a repeat of last year. Poor road conditions might cause some discomfort for tourists covering multiple-destinations. We have informed tour operators that instances of chikunguniya have considerably declined in the State.”

Curiously, there was no fall in tourist arrivals, despite people falling prey to chikunguniya and other contagious diseases during summer and the monsoon. However, the pathetic condition of roads would have a fallout on the fortunes of the hospitality sector and more importantly, travel agencies. Agencies had been adding new vehicles to their fleet despite more operators venturing into the field, thanks to the demand from tourists and those who arrived in the State for conferences.

Mr. Venu said that the extended rainy season by itself would not be a disincentive, since the rains were mostly followed by hours of sunshine. “People from other parts of India enjoy the rains, since they come here to beat the heat back home. The better air-connectivity is a major reason for the steady increase in tourist arrivals.”

Aimed at tapping new markets, Kerala Tourism has embarked on an aggressive drive to organise road shows for tour operators.

This is a break from tradition, where the focus used to be on participation in travel marts. Road shows for members of the public had come to be an expensive affair and so the department narrowed down the events to tour operators.

Road shows have been planned in Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Ahmedabad. October and November will see the shows go overseas, to Frankfurt, Zurich, Sydney, Singapore and Italy.

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