Kerala tourism GETS BACK ON TRACK

Pune: After witnessing the worst floods in almost a century, Kerala is now ready to welcome the Indian and foreign tourists to God’s own country. As the holiday season kicks in, according to Kerala’s Tourism Department, the state is slowly and steadily recovering.

Sajeev KR, Assistant Tourist Information Officer in Kerala Government, revealed that tourism accounts for 12 per cent of the state’s economy and it had come to a standstill in August as the floods damaged the roads, rail lines and airports, forcing tourists to cancel their long-planned trips. Ripples of that loss could be felt till the end of September. 

Neelakurinji blooms
“We were worried that the floods would have caused a major damage to the flowers, but they seem to have survived the gushing flood water. And this year’s major attraction Neelakurinji - a flower which blooms on the Western Ghats once every 12 years, has also started attracting tourists back to hill-stations of Munnar and Wayanad,” Sajeev KR added.
 
Nilesh Bhansali, Director of Travel Agents Association of Pune said, “Any natural or man-made disaster adversely affects the business in the state and it takes time to recover. Now, looking at the current situation, the tourist places in Kerala have picked up at a steady rate.” 

Travellers’ account
Amit Londhe, city-based businessman who recently travelled to Kerala with his family, said the experience of travelling through tourist destinations was good and did not feel like travelling to a state devastated by floods. Londhe said, “My family and I travelled to Munnar, Tekadi, Kovalam and Kanyakumari from November 27 to 30. There was no sign of any destruction or devastation due to the floods.”

Aslam Saiyad, a documentary photographer visited Kerala from November 16 to 21 with his family. He said, “Initially, we were scared to visit Kerala due to the floods, but one of my family members convinced us to do so. After landing at Kochi Airport we travelled by road to Munnar, Alappuzha and back to Kochi. We did jungle safari at the rainforest of Munnar, visited a spice garden, stayed in a houseboat in Alappuzha and while travelling or staying at these places we did not feel that this state had once been hit by the worst floods.” 

Recent past

• Worst-hit districts in August floods: Idukki, Wayanad, Ernakulam and Alappuzha.
• Tourism accounts for 15 lakh jobs in Kerala and revenue worth Rs 32,380 crore (2017 data). 
• Kerala tourism industry suffered losses worth Rs 1,500 crore in August.

Sept’s Tourism Readiness Survey 

• 70 major tourist destinations across 14 districts in the state were surveyed.
• 90 per cent of the destinations including Alappuzha, Kumarakom, Thekkady and Munnar were found unaffected by the floods. 
• Destinations like Neliyampathy and Silent Valley in Palakkad and Thrissur district have been successfully restored in terms of road connectivity.

(Source: Kerala Tourism Dept)