Kerala records 12% jump in tourism earnings

Kerala recorded a 12.11 per cent increase in the total revenue from the tourism sector, which is the backbone of the state's economy,  during 2014. According to the latest data of the state tourism department,the state could have mobilised Rs 24,885.44 crore both direct and indirectly during the last year as against Rs 22,926.55 crore in 2013.

Of this, the foreign exchange part comes to the tune of Rs 6,399 crore which is an increase of 15.07 per cent when compared with 2013. According to the data, the arrival of both overseas and local tourists had increased 7 per cent each during last year.

The number of foreign tourists visited the country increased 7.60 per cent to 923,366 in 2014, up from 858,143 in the previous year

The number of domestic tourists increased to 11.7 million as against 10.85 million, recording a rise of 7.71 per cent.

Domestic visitors prefer to come to Kerala during September to January and during the month of May. 

This is mainly because the festival season in Kerala is from September - January. The famous Mandalam pilgrimage season of Sabarimala is during December and January. 

A major chunk of domestic tourists prefer May because of academic vacation. In case of overseas tourists, the preferred season is November to March and almost 50 per cent of the overseas tourists arrival is during these months.

Couple of years before, the tourism department had kicked off the Monsoon tourism campaign which aimed  to attract tourists  during the rainy season. But this does not click much response as the lowest monthly  arrival was during May, June and July in the case of both local and overseas tourists.

Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram districts attract most overseas tourists since these are the major cities of the state. The star attractions of these districts are back waters, historic monuments and the world famous Kovalam beach in Thiruvananthapuram district. Cochin port also attract highly rich tourists through the luxury shipping lines.  Roughly 50 such luxury vessels visits Cochin every year each one carrying 500 travelers on an average.

In case of domestic travelers also Kochi is the most preferred destination followed by Thrissur, the cultural capital of Kerala and Thiruvananthapuram. Thrissur attracts tourists in masses  during Thrissur Pooram festival and during Onam season.

It is notable that there is a continuous increase in the  tourists flow and income since 2003 onwards. The main reason behind this is the planned campaign by the tourism department in India and across the world with its logo, 'God's Own Country'.

The government has introduced the tourists visa on arrival enabled with Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) for travelers from 43 countries in November,2014. This will enable Kerala to receive more overseas tourists in the coming years, according to A.P Anilkumar, minister for Tourism.

'Visit Kerala 2015', a new initiative of Kerala Tourism to promote the state's destinations, will be launched this year from April 1, with a series of events ranging from arts to sports. "The main focus of 'Visit Kerala  will be to strengthen the promotion of tourism products including Ayurveda, 'Responsible Tourism' and Spice Route-Muziris, he added.