THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala registered a 13.76% rise in foreign tourist arrivals in 2024 compared to the year before. However, the footfall remained significantly below pre-pandemic numbers, sparking calls for aggressive marketing strategies and tapping newer markets.
Data from the tourism department showed around 7.38 lakh foreign tourists visited Kerala in 2024, which is significantly lower from 11.89 lakh in 2019.
On the flip side, domestic tourist arrivals saw a slight spike of 1.72% in 2024 from the previous year, but were 21% higher than 2019.
Industry insiders feel 2024 general elections adversely impacted domestic tourism. Shaik Ismail, president of Tourism Professionals Club and Tourism Care Foundation said rise in airfares was one of the primary reasons why tourist footfall was not picking up in the state.
“Flights to Kerala from Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai and return are very expensive, which is discouraging domestic and international tourists coming to Kerala. There needs to be some regulation to keep airfares in check. For the same fare, domestic tourists can visit countries like Thailand and Malaysia. Many new countries are interested in Kerala; we need to tap those markets,” Ismail said.
Tourism stakeholders demand more aggressive marketing and finding new markets to take the rush to pre-pandemic levels. Prasanth Vasudev, former deputy director (tourism), said to improve marketing, the department should give tour operators grants to tap foreign markets.
Meanwhile, Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) president Jose Pradeep said tourist arrivals had gone up in recent months.
“There was a dip last year due to elections, as during polls, people tend to travel less. The figures will be much better next year as we will only get the result of these efforts this year,” said Jose Pradeep.
Tourism secretary K Biju told TNIE that the department was drawing up marketing strategies to increase foreign tourist arrivals to the pre-pandemic times. “New markets will be explored internationally this year,” he said.
Footfall Tracker
Domestic Arrivals
2019 - 1.84 crore (17.81%)
2020 - 49.89 lakh (-72.86%)
2021 - 75.38 lakh (51.09%)
2022 - 1.89 crore (150.31%)
2023 - 2.19 crore (15.92%)
2024 - 2.22 crore (1.72%)
Foreign Arrivals
2019 - 11.9 lakh (8.52%)
2020 - 3.41 lakh (-71.36%)
2021 - 60,487 (-82.25%)
2022 - 3.46 lakh (471.28%)
2023 - 6.49 lakh (87.83%)
2024 - 7.38 lakh (13.76%)