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Despite slowdown, Kerala Tourism has recorded 8 per cent annual growth in the revenues at Rs 21,000 crore. After Europe, it is now eyeing overseas markets like US and Japan to attract tourists to Kerala.
The state Tourism Department has also commenced Tourist Visa on Arrival (T-VoA) facility at the Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi international airports for citizens from 16 countries to promote Kerala tourism in those countries.
The department is also trying to attract business communities from countries like Australia and China.
Thirty-day T-VoA will be issued to citizens from Japan, Singapore, Finland, Luxembourg, New Zealand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar and Indonesia. Kerala witnessed 0.79 million foreign tourists arrival in 2012 as compared to 0.73 million in 2011. The Foreign exchange earnings had also gone up from Rs 4,221.99 crore in 2011 to Rs 4,548 crore in 2012. The total revenue, both direct and indirect from tourism touched Rs 21,125 cr in 2012 compared to Rs 19,037 crore in 2011.
Speaking about the plans, Suman Billa, secretary, Kerala Tourism Development Corporation said, "Due to slowdown in Europe, we have now decided to focus on markets like USA and Japan. America was not much focused because of longer travel times. Russia is also very impulsive market for us. Last year, over one crore tourists visited Kerala. Also, under the promotion campaign, the average holiday for foreign tourists was expected to go up to 18 days per person from the present average stay of 16.2 days."
He added, "We have recently launched a host of path-breaking mobile-based services and IT-enabled projects to further enhance the travel experience of visitors to Kerala. The new set of products include mobile website, WAP guide, applications for Android and IOS and Bluetooth Kiosks."
Government of Kerala has rolled out two new initiatives to boost tourism further. First 'Seaplane Project' aimed towards improving last mile connectivity by air to its destinations across state. The department has appointed four private players for air connectivity. The other 'Project Muziris' is directed to reinstate the historical and cultural significance of the legendary port of Muziris.
Kerala Tourism Infrastructure Limited (KTIL) a public sector undertaking under Department of Tourism, has been appointed as the nodal agency for the implementation of the Seaplane Project. The plan is to provide service initially in the priority circuit, consisting of the three airports of Trivandrum, Cochin and Calicut and the prime destinations like Astamudi, Punnamada, Kumarakom, Bolgatty and Bekal in the state.
