‘Destination and environment sustainability is at the core of Kerala’s tourism policy’

What is your vision for Kerala Tourism?

The vision and mandate for Kerala Tourism is to ensure the growth of Kerala as an internationally acclaimed yet sustainable destination for all seasons with an increased market share and enhanced brand visibility

At present, our key priority is to consolidate the remarkable growth that Kerala has achieved in the tourism sector and to sustain the impressive growth in international and domestic arrivals with a number of carefully developed and executed initiatives.

All efforts to promote tourism in the state will be in keeping with the planned, comprehensive and sustainable approach adopted by the Department in the state and will revolve around Responsible Tourism.

Do you think Responsible Tourism (RT) is the way forward? What are the new RT initiatives/destinations being planned in the state?

Destination and environment sustainability is at the core of Kerala’s tourism policy. We have consistently been emphasising our commitment to practising Responsible Tourism. RT was piloted in four destinations – Kovalam, Kumarakom, Thekkady and Wayanad – and extended to Kumbalangi in Ernakulam and Bekal in Kasaragod district.

RT hinges on the availability of natural resources, skilled manpower, supportive entrepreneurial community, strong local-self-governments, civil-society organisations, multitude of micro enterprises, streams of professionals and academicians, responsible media and responsive tourism industry. The presence of all these make Kerala an ideal setting to implement and practise it.

We intend to take RT to more destinations given the success of this participatory approach model, where the local communities are included as stakeholders and empowered economically through tourism activity that focuses on both cultural and ecological conservation. As a part of the sustainability initiative, we have put in place an RT classification system for accommodation units and are bringing all hotels and resorts under this. The classification system for home stays has also been re-modified in tune with RT principles.

Wayanad has evolved as a role model with its winning the National Tourism Award. Your comments.

The National Award is a fitting recognition of both the pioneering efforts Kerala Tourism has played in towards bringing the RT initiative to fruition and proof-positive that the innovative and emulative practice of RT is the way forward.

In Wayanad district, the implementation area of RT regions has included few Panchayats, which together form the Wayanad cluster. A particularly salient feature of the RT initiative in Wayanad is that traditional tribal communities form large per cent of district’s population. The implementation of RT has transformed its economy through intensive participation of the local tribes and helped these communities preserve their way of life.

The liquor ban in the state has played havoc with tourist numbers especially MICE movements. There is talk of the government rolling back the ban.
The Kerala Tourism Trade Survey 2016, conducted by Kerala Tourism, looked into trends in tourist arrivals and the state’s growth as a destination for MICE business, based on feedback from owners and managers of hotels and resorts, and tour operators.

It was the first trade survey conducted by this department, undertaken after we noticed reports in the media about negative trends in the tourism sector. Many of those reports indicated that the industry is going through a rough phase due to the excise policy, stiff competition. We wanted proof. The survey indicated a correlation between the excise policy and tourism growth. The Kerala Government is mooting solutions.

Under the regional connectivity plan of the Modi government, which destinations in the state will have new airports?
We already have three international-standard airports in Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram. Tourism to the Malabar region will increase once the Greenfield International Airport in Kannur is commissioned. For a small state like Kerala, this is more than enough. At present, it is much more important to develop additional international and domestic flight connections at these airports.

What is Kerala’s roadmap as a cruise hub?
We are committed to make Kerala a leading cruise destination on the western Indian coast that offers services and tourism products of the highest international standards. Major cruise lines like Queen Elizabeth, Cunard Lines, Royal Caribbean Lines, Aida Cruises, Costa Cruises, among others, call at Cochin Port.

With plans to further develop its extensive coastline, the state is looking to entice more cruise lines and ships to make Kerala a port of call. As well, the Kerala Government will soon initiate cruise ship travel between Kochi and Kozhikode.

How does Kerala plan to increase its presence in the international markets?
Other than the traditional European markets like the Middle East, UK, Germany, France, among others, we are looking at new highly lucrative outbound tourist markets like China, Japan and Australia.

We also plan to organise road shows at Osaka, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, Melbourne, Dublin, Stockholm, Munich, Lyon, Rome, Prague, Budapest, Barcelona, St. Petersburg and Kiev, among others.

Any new posts on Kerala’s Social Media strategy?

Kerala Tourism, which has more than 1.2 million fans on Facebook, is a pioneer in cross-platform campaigns to spread word on state destinations. In July, we won a national tourism award for the ‘Most Innovative use of Information Technology’ – Social Media/Mobile App. The Tourism Department’s website, one of the most popular such websites in the world, has won several national and international tourism awards.

The latest in a string of innovative marketing initiatives, the first-of-its-kind ‘A Kerala Holiday a day’ offer gives users of Kerala Tourism’s scaled-up ‘Go Kerala’ app the chance to bid to win a vacation in the state every day over the contest’s duration. The app has already been downloaded more than 30,000 times and several premium vacation packages have been won by users at throwaway prices.