THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Tourism Department has come out with an array of offers in an effort to lift the lean tourism season between April and October. They include an IPL-model boat race, monsoon music festival, Malabar World Kayak championship at Thusharagiri and Malanad-Malabar river cruise project, among others.
The period between April and October is also known as the dream season as tourism services are offered at competitive rates.
Various programmes offered by the department during the season has resulted in the increased of tourist inflows. The foreign tourist inflow, which stood at 3.86 lakh in 2014 during April to October, increased to 4.11 lakh in 2015 and 4.36 lakh in 2016. In 2017 tourist inflow stood at 4.56 lakh.
The domestic tourist inflow too has grown substantially during these months. From 65.95 lakh in 2014, total footfall climbed to 83.68 lakh in 2017. The growth in the domestic sector was almost equal to the growth in the peak season as vacations play major role in the holidaying of domestic tourists.
According to Tourism secretary Rani George, the department plans to keep the momentum of its peak season round the year and new projects are announced to meet this goal. The IPL-model Kerala Boat Race League offers tourists a month-long spectacle. It starts with the Nehru Trophy boat race on August 11 and will conclude with the President's Trophy Boat Race in Kollam on November 1.
The Malabar river festival and the first world kayak championship organised at Thusharagiri in Kozhikode and Nishagandhi monsoon music festival are some of the events planned in the coming months.
The Malanad-Malabar river cruise project connecting rivers in North Malabar, considered the largest-ever tourism project in northern Kerala, and the Thalassery heritage tourism project are aimed at making north Kerala a major monsoon tourist destination, said tourism department officers. The industry is also boosted by the emergence of wellness tourism during monsoon season in recent years.