In the first three quarters of the year, 1.33 crore tourists visited Kerala, a 1.94 percent increase from the year before the pandemic.
Sreekumar S, Deputy Director (in-charge) of Kerala Tourism, said in Delhi on Tuesday that the emphasis will now be on activity-driven and experiential tourism, which will take visitors to the interiors of the State to explore its unknown or little-known spots and make it an interconnected tourism hotspot, raising its profile beyond its celebrated image as a land of enchanting natural beauty.
According to Kerala Tourism Minister Mohamed Riyas, beaches, backwaters, and hill stations will no longer be the primary focus. Now, we want to make Kerala as a whole a connected tourist destination with a wide range of options and experiences for visitors. Visitors looking for a variety of experiences, such as a stay in a houseboat or caravan, environmentally responsible adventure activities, and visits to heritage and cultural centers, will find a trip to Kerala to be a healthy one thanks to all of this.
Kerala will make use of its Responsible Tourism (RT) Mission, which is well-known all over the world and lets tourists see how life is in a village while helping the people who live there. The Mission is now the first state-owned society to provide local communities with training, marketing, and other support systems for starting tourism-related initiatives. The RT Mission will have an easier time obtaining funding from local governments and other agencies if it is registered as a society.
The Destination Challenge initiative was recently launched in Kerala to identify and develop numerous tourist-friendly locations throughout the state. This program, which is based on the idea of “explore the unexplored” and aims to create micro-destinations in every part of the state, down to the panchayat level, will have the tourism department as a key partner. This would imply that each panchayat would have at least one destination.
A unique experience for visitors will also be provided by Kerala’s houseboats, caravan stays, jungle lodges, plantation visits, homestays, Ayurveda-based wellness solutions, countryside walks, and adventure activities, such as trekking to verdant hills.
