Kerala lures Andhra tourists to visit the state

Munnar Hills

In an interactive session organized at Fortune Murali Park on Thursday, Kerala Tourism department invited Andhra Pradesh to visit the tourism destination of Kerala and experience its rich cultural heritage. The event was held as part of its tourism promotion campaign, and, the Kerala Tourism Department has showcased what God’s own country can offer.

People of Andhra Pradesh are mainly interested in pilgrimage and cultural spots in Kerala. They visit hill stations, beaches, wildlife sanctuaries and backwaters and constitute around 15 per cent of the state’s domestic tourists. “The number of devotees from Andhra Pradesh to Sabarimala is also high,” said K P Nandakumar, Deputy Director of Kerala Tourism department.

Kerala’s major tourism spots includes beaches, hill stations, backwaters, wild life sanctuaries etc. Kovalam, Varkala, Marari, Alleppey, Kozhikode etc. are popular beaches. Munnar, Thekkady, Vagamon etc. are the favourite hill stations. In backwaters Kollam, Kochi, Kavvayi, and Alappuzha are well known to tourists. Wildlife sanctuaries in Thekkady, Neyyar, Mangalavanam, etc are also favoured destinations for domestic tourists.

Sabarimala Temple

Kerala has marked an increase of 11.38 per cent in domestic tourists arrivals and 5.15 per cent foreigners visiting the State since 2016.

“We were successful in marketing ourselves globally. There is a huge potential to attract more tourists from Andhra as our food and culture are very similar,” said Nandakumar.

After the interactive session, art forms of Kerala were performed to entertain the participants. There was a Kalarippayattu performance also.

Following the performance, Kerala’s own delicious dishes were served for lunch. A splendid meal with brinjal curry, aviyal, sambar, rasam, chutney, pickle, and fried rice were served for the lunch.