With an aim to increase the domestic tourist inflow to the state by 50 per cent by 2021, the Kerala Tourism Department is planning to have a five-month promotional campaign in nine states.
The outbreak of Nipah virus has adversely affected the tourism industry of Kerala in recent months. The five-month promotional drive is to overcome this situation and attract more tourists to the Gods Own Country. Fifteen B2B meetings are scheduled between July and November.
The first phase of the campaign will commence with a Travel and Tourism Fair in Kolkata (West Bengal) from July 6-8, followed by tourism partnership meets in Bhubaneswar (Odisha) and Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh) on July 10 and 12, respectively.
Through the campaign, the tourism department aims at promoting the tourism potential of northern parts of Kerala highlighting the cultural heritage in the state. Karnataka, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Telangana are the states to meet with in the first phase of B2B. The meeting in Hyderabad will be on November 25
Partnership meets during the campaign are expected to provide an opportunity for mutual development in tourism trade in Kerala as well as the participating states.
The recent Nipah fear has badly affected the pre-booking for the tourism season, which went down to 10 per cent, as per official sources. The pre-booking for Neelakurinji season (blooming of blue and purple Neelakurinji flowers, that happens once in 12 years) which is expected to start in July in Munnar is also grim, due to the Nipah outbreak. The tourism department is optimistic to overcome the adversities through the five month campaign.
Rs 15 million has been allotted to the Idukki District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) to arrange transportation facilities to the Neelakurinji sanctuary. With at least 1 million visitors expected during the season, the permitted number of daily visitors is expected to be increased from the existing 4,000.
Kerala had witnessed around 11 per cent growths in tourist footfall last year with districts like Alappuzha, Idukki, Wayanad, Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam attracting the maximum number of domestic travellers.
