KOCHI: Since the 2018 floods, Kerala has always eyed rain suspiciously. As dark clouds gather on the horizon, a question races on everyone’s mind: Will there be a flood again? The vagaries of the recent weather too have triggered concerns. Now, when it pours, it pours hard and in short spells over a small region, inundating it and causing traffic snarl-ups.
Yet, the monsoon has always been viewed with a rose-tinted lens, romanticised in texts, reels and hearts. Kerala, where the season first checks in before setting off on an adventure across the sub-continent, has grown to endure and love this season.
Of late, the state, which makes a bulk of its revenue from tourism, has also learnt to capitalise on the quiet euphoria that rain invariably brings.
What the numbers tell us
Unlike earlier, the official tourism season in Kerala is no longer confined to the period between October and March. Industry stakeholders have also started including specially curated monsoon packages to lure tourists. And it’s working.
Numbers from Kerala Tourism reveal that footfall (domestic tourists) during the monsoon period (June to September) last year was 60.6 lakh, a 110% surge from numbers posted in 2019. This is nearly 30% of the total number of domestic tourists in Kerala in 2023.
Foreign tourists numbers are understandably down this time as most arrive here on cruise vessels and sea journeys are perilous this time of year, especially in the Indian Ocean waters. That said, 2023 saw a 200% surge in foreign tourist footfall (6.49 lakh) from 2022, a clear indicator that there are many takers for what Kerala has to offer.
It’s simply monsoon’s time
Some would argue that this urgency to see Kerala become an all-year-round destination was necessitated to tide past the havoc wreaked by Covid when much of the tourism industry was ground to a halt. Others would say it’s a natural evolution of the industry. Both are not wrong.
We’d also add that an influx of content creators has also contributed a great deal. Every nook and cranny of the state was soaked and documented by them on social media, prompting wanderlusts across the country to also consider ‘God’s Own Country’ when making their travel plans.
And what better time than the monsoon to capture the lush green, illustrious beauty of this place? With tourism industry stakeholders, too, holding up their end of the bargain, monsoon is no longer drubbed as an ‘off-season’. Indeed, the most notable among these is the monsoon campaign spearheaded by the state tourism wing in the early 2000s. The results of this initiative are now starting to show.
Also, people’s yearning to travel, especially after the long months of lockdown and isolation during the Covid years, can’t be discounted. Last year, over 2.3 crore domestic tourists and 6.49 lakh foreign tourists visited the state.
“Gone are the days when we use the term ‘season’ for tourism. Now, most of the hotels are booked all year around, especially the weekends,” says travel vlogger Balram Menon. Jose Dominic, a pioneering figure in the Indian travel and tourism sector, seconds this.
“Climate tourism has a huge scope in Kerala. Rain is our biggest allure. People from as far as Rajasthan arrive here during these months to see the water and the greenery,” he says, adding that it was the timely marketing by both private players and government agencies that paved the way for this. “The campaign based on ayurveda panchakarma treatment worked wonders. It helped boost health tourism,” Jose adds.
When climate change pokes its head
Despite its allure, Kerala’s monsoon is not what it was a decade ago. Moderate to heavy, continuous showers have given way to short, intense spells of rain — an alarming indicator of the effects of climate change. And Kerala is yet to learn to adapt, as is evident from reports of waterlogging, landslides, and a spike in drowning cases during the season. This has, to some extent, dampened monsoon tourism’s prospects, insiders reveal.
“Though hotels charge a significantly lower tariff during the season, a number of tourists, especially families, think twice before planning a trip to Kerala during the rain,” says Thomas Joseph, senior vice president of Kerala Holidays, a travel tourism company.
Travel advisor Ayisha Sahala, who goes by @yaathra_pranthi on Instagram, says last-minute backouts are common due to weather concerns. This, she says, is not just the case in Kerala. “Recently, I took some clients to Kashmir. Despite it being winter. they were not able to see proper snowfall,” she says.
However, Ayyappankutty, the owner of Wakeup Vacations, a travel agency, points out that the vagaries of the weather have meant that monsoon is now the only time when a visit to Kerala is feasible, especially to places like Wayanad. “It is the harsh summer that affects my business more than the untimely, unpredictable rain,” he says.
An official at DTPC Wayanad seconds this. “Tour schedules might get affected due to unexpected closing of destinations. But people still arrive here in numbers. Light rain brings out the soul of Wayanad. It’s what they’ve come to see,” he says.
Today, people from as far as Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh are visiting Wayanad during the monsoon. While not dismissing the fallouts from climate change, Jose Dominic, too, concurs. He says that these showers are certainly not a bane for monsoon tourism’s prospects.
What can we improve?
While it’s clear that monsoon tourism is here to stay, it seems to be restricted mostly to northern districts like Wayanad, where the DTPC is organising a Mud Fest from July 6 to 14. The fest by will see activities like mud football, mud volleyball, mud wrestling, etc, for both tourists and locals.
“Monsoon tourism is a great avenue for Kerala. The department is planning several activities to capitalise on this, but we don’t have many opportunities to do so in the southern districts,” says an official from the state tourism department.
Most of the said activities are water-related and hence, on the receipt of weather alerts, these would have to be closed or restrictions imposed, reveals a DTPC official from Kochi. An official from Thiruvananthapuram DTPC seconds this. “In both these places, the major tourist attractions are the beaches and the rivers. However, during the monsoon, the waters are in spate and dangerous. Hence the restrictions,” he says.
Still, there are a plethora of activities that can be pursued during the monsoon time. For example, DTPC Kochi has been supporting the Tourism Professionals Club in the latter’s monsoon tourism promotion activity, the ‘Shoot the Rain’ football tournament.
“There’s plenty of opportunities. We have not explored them yet,” says Balram. He cites Illikkal Kallu in Kottayam and Mamalakandam in Ernakulam as possible places that could be given a boost. “Munnar, renowned for its tea estates, is magical during the monsoon. Besides these, there are several other places in Idukki. Houseboat journeys are also highly enjoyable during light showers. The presence of private players in all these places shows that there’s ample scope to foster monsoon tourism,” he adds.
Kerala has much in parallel with Japan — similar shape, size, people, architecture and an unpredictable climate, says Jose Dominic.
“Japan’s tourism sector is booming, with tourists coming from across the world. They have metro and high-speed rails, yes. But Kerala doesn’t need to have anything — just leave its natural bounty intact,” he adds.