Kerala: Domestic tourist arrivals jump by 72% in first quarter of 2022

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Overcoming the crisis caused by the Covid pandemic, the state's tourism sector has bounced back, clocking 3.8 million domestic tourists in the first quarter of 2022, marking an impressive growth of 72.48% as compared with 2.2 million footfalls during the corresponding period in 2021, tourism minister P A Mohamed Riyas said on Wednesday.
Going by the prevailing trend, Kerala tourism is set to attract a record number of tourists this year on the strength of its globally-acclaimed assets, new products and initiatives, he said.
Releasing the figures for the first quarter of 2022, Riyas said that Ernakulam registered the highest number of domestic tourists (811,426), followed by Thiruvananthapuram (600,933), Idukki (511,947), Thrissur (358,052), and Wayanad (310,322). Five districts -Idukki, Malappuram, Kasaragod, Pathanamthitta and Wayanad- registered the highest ever footfall since their formation.
Overall, there was a significant increase of 16 lakh tourists in the first three months of the current year compared to the corresponding period last year. This healthy uptick in tourists from within the country indicates that the domestic segment of Kerala tourism has recovered from the impact of the pandemic, Riyas said. On the ambitious project to explore the unexplored destinations, he said the government will soon announce a 'destination challenge' initiative, in association with the LSGD to identify at least one destination, under each LSG institution.
Riyas said new tourism products and events like caravan tourism, adventure tourism and second edition of Champions Boat League (CBL) to be held later this year and projects under LSGs, STREET Project and Responsible Tourism will certainly give a fillip to the domestic tourism sector.
As for foreign tourist arrivals, the number increased from 14,489 in the first quarter of 2021 to 43,547 during the corresponding period in the current year, notching a significant increase of 200.55%. Thus, there was an increase of about 29,000 foreign tourist arrivals in Kerala during the three-month period. Foreign tourists mainly focused on Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram.
A 360-degree marketing campaign conducted by Kerala tourism during October-December 2021 has immensely contributed to the huge success of Kerala tourism during this period. The campaign, which meticulously used all available media to connect the tourists, projected the state as a safe destination of diverse experiences for domestic and foreign tourists. Noting that the upkeep of tourism centres is vital, Riyas said that tourism clubs will be formed on college campuses as youngsters can effectively work together as volunteers in keeping tourist assets well maintained.
He said that around 3.5 lakh people turned up for the four-day Beypore Water Fest held at the turn of the year. As a result, the fest has been firmly marked on the tourism calendar as an annual feature, he said.