Tourism Department set to conquer Hindi heartland

For lakhs of migrants from the Hindi speaking states in the country who work in Kerala, ‘God’s Own Country’ is exactly what the Gulf is for the Keralites.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: For lakhs of migrants from the Hindi speaking states in the country who work in Kerala, ‘God’s Own Country’ is exactly what the Gulf is for the Keralites. Buoyed by the increase in domestic tourism, the state Tourism Department has decided to tap the potential of Hindi speaking states by holding aggressive promotional campaigns migrant heartlands.

According to the statistics available with the Tourism Department, over 1.46 crore domestic tourists have visited the state in 2017, recording the highest number of domestic tourist arrivals in the past nine-year period, with the number posting an 11.39 per cent rise compared with the figures of 1.31 crore in 2016.

Of this, Kerala constituted around 62.93 per cent of the total domestic tourist traffic while Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra together contributed around 18.76 per cent and the remaining 18.31 was the share from other North Indian states. And in this backdrop, the department has decided to hold road shows and other promotional campaigns in cities like Kolkata, Patna and Ranchi, said Tourism Director P Bala Kiran.

The domestic tourism has been registering a robust growth in Kerala over the years with a 10.94 per cent rise in 2017 compared with the figures of last year, while the foreign tourist arrival to the state saw only 5.15 per cent growth during the year 2017, compared with the figures of the previous year. So, the department has decided to give more thrust to the domestic tourism sector as well in order to increase the domestic arrival by 50 per cent in the next five years.

In order to attract more young domestic tourists to Kerala, the department has also plans to boost the potential of adventure tourism. Further, the cleanliness of the tourist spots will be ensured, apart from ensuring the safety and protection of the tourists, said officials. The department has been spending around 60 per cent of the fund set aside for the marketing in the domestic tourism promotion and 40 per cent for the promotion of the state in international venues.

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