THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The year 2023 is looking extremely good for Kerala Tourism with the state playing host to 1.59 crore domestic tourists till September. This is 19.34% higher than the same period last year, when 1.33 crore people from various states visited the state.
Adding to the delight of stakeholders, the footfall of foreign tourists also saw a massive spike with 4.47 lakh foreigners making their way to the state in the first nine months, compared to 2.06 lakh during the same period in 2022 — a growth of 116.25%.
Tourism Minister P A Mohamed Riyas said compared to the pre-pandemic figures, domestic tourist arrival numbers in the first nine months of 2023 constituted a growth of 21.12%. Ernakulam recorded the maximum number of domestic footfalls, attracting 33.18 lakh tourists, followed by Idukki (26.61 lakh), Thiruvananthapuram (25.61 lakh), Thrissur (18.22 lakh) and Wayanad (12.87 lakh).
“The steady surge in tourist footfalls indicates that 2023 is going to be a record-breaking year in the history of Kerala Tourism as far as domestic visitors are concerned,” Riyas told reporters. Meanwhile, Ernakulam was clear winner in terms of foreign tourist arrivals, catering to 2.04 lakh visitors till September 2023. In second place was Thiruvananthapuram (98,179), followed by Idukki (68,798), Alappuzha (19,685), and Kottayam (15,112).