nCoV has severely affected tourism sector: Surendran

Thiruvananthapuram: Admitting that novel coronavirus (nCoV) has dealt a severe blow to the state’s tourism sector, tourism minister Kadakampally Surendran said on Sunday that a meeting of the state tourism advisory council will be convened soon to chalk out a new marketing strategy to overcome the crisis.
“The scare following the positive confirmation of nCoV cases in the state has of course affected the inflow of tourists, which calls for chalking out of a new marketing strategy. We took similar initiatives after the two consecutive monsoon floods, which ravaged the state, and post-Nipah virus outbreak to revive the sector,” the minister told reporters.
Though the industry heaved a sigh of relief after the state government withdrew the declaration of nCoV infection as a state-specific disaster a couple of days ago, mass cancellations of hotel bookings and tour packages have already done the damage, stakeholders had pointed out.
Meanwhile, responding to widespread criticism on the 20% cut in the 2020-21 budget outlay for tourism sector, especially on the allocation for marketing (which he was giving more thrust now), the minister said this happened due to the ‘specific nature’ of this year’s budget. “But, there’s no need for any concerns as there will be timely support through additional allocations as per requirements,” he said.
The allocation for tourism marketing is Rs 63.4 crore in 2020-21 budget against Rs 82 crore earmarked in 2019-20. This was despite Kerala State Planning Board’s (KSPB) recommendation to focus more on marketing destinations and varied tourism products of the state, instead of infrastructure development.
Held as a pioneer in marketing tourism among Indian states, Kerala, over the years, has been exploiting the potential of information communication technology for luring tourists from both international and domestic markets. But, the state has not yet come up successfully with a USP (unique selling proposition) for its authentic products like folk artforms, which, according to officials, require regular promotion on global platforms.
As per the 2020-21 allocations, the activities under marketing scheme include international and national promotional campaigns, branding and partnerships. An amount of Rs 9.75 crore has been earmarked for international and national marketing events, including participation in trade fairs and organizing B2B meets, while Rs 8.25 crore is allotted for international and national campaigns, including print, TV, cinema halls and OOH (out of home advertising).
Other activities under marketing include website development and web-based marketing activities (Rs 7.5 crore), social media and digital campaigns including national and international ‘Blog Express’ (Rs 6.8 crore), conducting FAM trips for tour operators, potential travel writers and journalists (Rs 6.75 crore), production and revamping of publicity materials (Rs 6.5 crore), sponsorships, financial assistance to various fairs with tourism potential and awareness advertisements (Rs 6.25 crore), focused public relations activities in international and domestic markets (Rs 6.1 crore), promoting MICE, monsoon tourism, adventure tourism and branding of tourism information centres (Rs 5.5 crore).