Kerala aims to double arrival of foreign tourist in next 5 years

Kerala expects to double the arrival of foreign tourists and almost 50 per cent growth in domestic tourists in five years, which may contribute between 15-20 per cent to the state's revenue, a top official said.

To promote it as a top destination among the foreign visitors and domestic tourists, Kerala Tourism has revamped fare with an array of new tourism products.

"We have a target to double the number of arrival of foreign tourists and 50% in domestic tourists in five years," said Kerala Tourist Information Officer Muraleedharan P.

The state has also formed a tourism regulatory authority, which would help put a stop to any unhealthy practices and guarantee better intervention of the Tourism Department through scrutiny and a licensing system.

It has come with new travel products such as Kochi Muziris Biennale, Muziris Heritage Project, Spice Route Project to showcase its cultural heritage.

In 2017, Kerala witnessed arrival of 10.91 lakh foreign tourist, which was 11.39 per cent higher than previous year. The number of domestic tourists rose by 5.15 per cent to 1.46 crore in 2017 against 1.31 crore in 2016.

The state had earned Rs 33, 383 crore in 2017 from tourism, which was 11.15 per cent up from Rs 29,658 crore in 2016.

"In 2017, tourism had contributed 10 per cent of the total GDP of the state and expects that in next five years, when it would be doubled would contribute around 15 to 20 per cent," Muraleedharan added.

In 2017, Kerala had earned foreign currency worth Rs 88,832 crore from tourism.

Moreover, to reach out to the domestic market, a string of Partnership Meets are being organised in Mumbai, Pune, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Chennai, Kolkata, Patna and Delhi in the first quarter of 2018.