Falling rupee brings cheer to domestic travel circuit

State tourism departments increasing focus on roadshows across country

While the falling rupee is a cause of concern for the country's central bank, it definitely is a reason to cheer for tourism departments of various states, who are going full steam with country-wide road shows to attract the domestic traveller.

The rupee devaluation has brought back interest in domestic travel. "We definitely see an opportunity to boost inbound travel, and this year we expect at least 10 per cent rise in tourist arrival to Kerala, " said S Harikishore, director, Kerala Tourism.

He added that the department has increased the budget for domestic campaign by 25 per cent this year, and is also covering more cities through roadshows this year. "We have literally doubled the number of cities we aim to cover through roadshows this year, from 10 last year to 22 cities this year. Also, from seven fairs last year we plan to do 22 fairs this year," he said.

Following the lines of Kerala,the Gujarat government is also keen on focussing on domestic traffic. Sanjay Kaul, managing director of the Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd said, "Domestic tourists are definitely in focus. International tourist arrivals are frequently affected by several factors like the slowdown in the economy, currency fluctuations, and advisories issued by several countries."

He added that as a part of the strategy to woo the domestic traveller, Gujarat has this time decided to reach out to tier II towns as well. "We have just conducted roadshows in seven to eight major cities, and plan to cover the country extensively," Kaul said.

Just ahead of the festive season, state tourism departments are trying to encash on the rising demand for domestic travel. Officials from the West Bengal tourism department were in town recently to woo travellers as well as investors from the state.

"The falling rupee has given exceptional impetus to domestic travel demand, especially demand for circuits like Kerala, Goa, Rajasthan, Andamans etc have shot up ahead of the festive season." said an Ahmedabad-based tour operator.