Kerala will not be able to move ahead just by saying it is God's own country. Earlier, Kerala only had to compete with big players in World Tourism industry. But now, a situation has come where Kerala has to compete with other 29 states in India.
The achievement of Kerala in tourism was a inspiration for other states in India and we can be proud of that. But when they are gearing up to become better tourist destinations than Kerala, we cannot be lethargic.
In a meeting called by the Central Government for framing the National Tourism policy, 29 states presented their tourism development schemes, much to my surprise. The tourism schemes presented by these states were aimed at developing the respective states as major tourist destinations at national level. Other states have identified tourism as the major revenue grosser for them. The amount of money earmarked for development of tourism has undergone a dramatic change.
Gujarat, which spent Rs 350 crore for tourism last year, has earmarked Rs 465 crore this year, an increase of 30 per cent. Karnataka has kept aside Rs 406 crore for tourism, while Maharasthra has earmarked Rs 405 crore. Goa increased its allotment from Rs 140 crore to Rs 260 crore within one year. In the recent Berlin Tourism festival, the contingent from Odisha led by their minister came with lot of preparation. Kerala, which is one of the major players in Tourism industry in India, still spends less than Rs 250 crore for tourism.
Kerala is also facing stiff competition from Sri Lanka. In tourism festivals around the world, Sri Lanka is promoting Ayurveda as their speciality and is spending a lot of money for its publicity. However, Sri Lanka doesn't have the facility or tradition in Ayurveda like Kerala. If we are not able to convince the world about this, our future will become bleak.
Our ranking in domestic tourism is also not very high. According to World Tourism Council, Kerala is ranked fifth. Delhi occupies the first spot. Gujarat and Karnataka, both of which were lying behind Kerala, have climbed ahead of us.
The ranking is done after taking into consideration many aspects such as arrival of tourists, the money spent on tourism sector, luxury taxes in hotels, road and rail connectivity and marketing. Though we have three international airports, we still lag way behind in domestic air travel.
It was in this background that Kerala launched a new programme, 'Visit Kerala', to revitalise the tourism sector. It was aimed at increasing the flow of tourists from Europe, America, gulf countries and from Japan, Korea and China. The publicity campaign would be done as part of Visit Kerala programme to attract tourist from these countries. As part of the campaign, Kerala for the first time, participated in International Tourism Festival in China last month.
It has been decided to hold Kerala food festival in important cities in the country to attract domestic tourists from North India. The government and public should come up with creative ideas to maintain its number one position in tourism sector.
(Author is secretary, tourism Government of Kerala)
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