Kerala tourism shakes off bar ban jitters

Kochi: The fears on the future of Kerala tourism in the wake of the ban on liquor sales in bars others than those in five star hotels have proved to be unfounded with the first quarter of the financial year recording impressive growth. Industry sources said tourist arrivals have gone up at least 10 per cent in the last quarter compared with those in the same period last year; and booking and enquiries for the next season are promising.

“There is a dull in the MICE (meeting-incentive-conference-exhibition) sector due to liquor ban but the leisure industry has picked up,” Abraham George, president of Kerala Tourism Mart, a collective of tourism industry representatives, told Deccan Chronicle.

The tourism industry in Kerala was on the edge last year when the state government imposed a ban on liquor sales in bars other than those in five start hotels. Kerala, purely a leisure tourism destination, will lose heavily with the ban which amounted to moral policing, many feared.

The iconic Kerala brand which contributed Rs 26,000 crore to the state gross domestic product and was growing double digits for several years is set for doom, they feared.

However, if the trends in this financial year are an indication, there is hope: the liquor ban has not impacted Kerala tourism much.

“We expect it to grow in the range of 10-15 per cent this financial year,” said Abraham George, president of Kerala Tourism Mart, an industry organisation.

There are many reasons why the industry escaped unhurt from the bad perception it brought for itself in the international tourism circuit by the ban on liquor sales.

“The Visit Kerala campaign and the governmental support by way of 8 per cent reduction in luxury tax (from 20 to 12) have helped the sector,” said Jibran Asif, director of the Abad group which runs a chain of business hotels in the state.

The extension of the list of nations which can opt for electronic visa, the emergence of Kerala as a wedding tourism destination and the promise of better response from China have contributed to the industry's hopes for improved performance this year.

Visa on arrival
The recent government decision to issue electronic visa (or visa-on-arrival as it is commonly known) to travellers has greatly helped the industry, says George Scaria, managing g director of Kerala Voyages.

“The list has recently expanded to include several European countries such as France and Germany, resulting in increased number of travellers from those countries.”

The government has approved inclusion of United Kingdom also on the list which should make a big difference to the industry, he said. At present, travellers from 77 countries have the facility.

The electronic visa system allows the traveller to apply for it in their country and get it stamped after arriving in India.

“However, the processes have not yet fully gone online,” Mr Scaria said. “The traveller still has to go personally to the consulate and apply for it. This involves travel and loss of at least a working day. Electronic visa system was conceived to make the whole process easier, and hence the government must take steps to make it a fully online process,” he said.

Chinese trickle
It seems Chinese travellers have taken a new fancy for Kerala. “It has just started as a trickle, but is promising,” said Mr Abraham of KTM.

The roadshows that Kerala Tourism held in China recently extracted good response, and it is getting reflected in the enquiries and bookings.

This will open a new market with lot of potential, he said.  The latest decision to include China also on the list for visa-on-arrival facility came at the right time, he said.

Wedding tourism
Kerala is emerging as a wedding tourism destination. “We hosted 12 weddings last season excluding those from Kerala ,” said Prasad Manjaly, corporate director, Uday Samudra Hotels, Kovalam.

“Of these, five were international weddings.” He said it was not that Kerala was now known as a wedding destination but “we are getting there. The Kovalam beaches offer an attractive venue for many. The backwaters are also a big draw.” Mr Asif of Abad Hotels also said weddings had become an attraction of late. “We have hosted some and the enquiries are encouraging,” he said.

Availability of infrastructure, apart from the locale, is key to the success of a place to become a wedding destination. Kovalam has three five star hotels, which helps a lot, Mr Manjaly said.  And that’s big business too:  “The biggest order was for 120 rooms for four nights and the smallest was 20 rooms for four nights,” he said.