Beach destination sees a silver lining in clouds

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Now that it has reached the nadir as a tourism destination, the only way for Kovalam to move is to go up. And with Indigo starting direct Delhi-Thiruvananthapuram daily flights from January 8, the beach destination seems poised for such a phoenix-like rise.

“It is still early days to gauge the effect but direct flights will definitely have an impact on the arrival of tourists,” said Mr Prasad Manjali, the vice president of Uday Samudra Group of Hotels.

In one fell swoop, the direct flights have demolished the biggest curse of Kovalam: the prohibitively high flight charges. There are times, especially during the peak season period between November and February, when one-way charges between Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram had crossed Rs 35,000.

Even on a normal day, these connecting flights charged somewhere between Rs 12,000 and Rs 16,000. In comparison, the new rate seems like a boon, between Rs 5000 and Rs 6000. Other airline comanies like Spicejet are also reportedly planning to begin daily direct operations to the state capital.

Till Indigo began operations, reaching Thiruvananthapuram was a cumbersome affair, too. There were only connecting flights, meaning passengers had to embark in Mumbai or Bangalore before reaching their destination, and this had pushed up costs.

“Since the flight rates are down considerably, Kovalam is expected to witness a boom in corporate business meeting and conferences,” Mr Manjali said.

Kovalam, suddenly, has become competitive with destinations like Goa. “The flight rates are still not as low as Goa’s but our ambience can easily compensate for the difference,” said S Sudhiesh Kumar, the president of Kerala Hotel and Restaurants Association.

It is also felt that tourists taking the Golden Triangle circuit (the travel loop that connects Delhi, Agra and Jaipur) can also be converted. “Once these tourists are made aware of both the ease and lower cost of travel, it will be easy to convert a tourist who had arrived in Delhi to fly to Kovalam,” said John Manjooran who heads Emerald Pleasures.