Visa-on-arrival fails to lift tourism spirits in Kerala

ALAPPUZHA: The facility of Tourist Visa on Arrival (T-VoA) introduced in Thiruvananthapuram  airport on August 15, 2013  and later in Kochi has not made much impact on the  tourism scenario in the state.   The other airports in the country, however, have  witnessed 347 percent growth in tourist  arrivals  this year over the same period in 2015 using the  same facility. According to the data published by the Union Tourism Ministry, a total of 1,15,677 tourists arrived on T-VoA  compared to 25,851  in the  same period last year after the  facility was extended to tourists  from 150 countries against the earlier  43.

However, very few foreigners visit  Kerala on T-VoA facility with  Thiruvananthapuram airport securing just 1.33 percent share.     The New Delhi international airport has topped  the list fetching 46.76 percent, Mumbai  18.75 percent, Goa 11.11, Chennai  5.55, Bengaluru  5.03, Kochi  2.82, Kolkata  2.38, Amritsar  2.12, and Hyderabad  2.07. The facility was mostly used by the citizens of  United Kingdom (27.74 percent), followed by  USA  (13.41 percent),  Russia (7.04), France (6.55), Germany (5.18), China (4.49), Canada (3.89), Australia (3.79), Spain (1.99) and Ukraine (1.66).

As per the Kerala Tourism data, foreign tourist arrivals to Kerala last year were  9, 77, 479,   an increase of 5.8 percent over the previous year’s figure of 9, 23, 366. Most of the tourists visit  Kerala as part of package tour. “For most foreigners, Kerala is one of several spots in their itinerary in the country. So they land in major airports and reach Kerala through road or train. However, there would be increase in the number of tourists coming on T-VoA facility in the coming years,” tourism  officials say. Mr  Tomi Pulikattil, a houseboat  operator here, said   the state tourism should bring back the chartered flights which have been suspended in the state since 2013.