Kerala Tourism Had an Amazing and Eventful Journey in Three Decades

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Kerala Tourism has come a long way in the last three decades from being just a facilitator of hotels and guest houses to one of world’s prime destinations, thanks to the game-changing policy initiatives and healthy industry-government partnership backed by political leadership that identified and marketed the niche products, according to top bureaucrats and leaders of tourism and travel trade.

Participating in a plenary session on “A retrospective journey on 30 years of Kerala Tourism” at the International Conference on Global Tourism, organized by KITTS here, they said though it is an amazing and eventful journey the state cannot rest on the laurels as challenges and competitions ahead are stiff.

The session started with a trip down the memory lane by T Balakrishnan IAS (Rtd), who helmed Kerala Tourism in the transitional phase through the 1980s, when tourism was recognized as an ‘economic activity’ benefiting all, a radical shift from the way it was looked at a “luxury” segment.

“It was in mid-1980s that tourism was identified as an economic activity, which was till then seen as a luxury activity. Here began the change. Though the state has been ruled alternately by two coalitions led by the CPM and the Congress, the political leadership was never wanting in backing all the good initiatives”, he said.

Largely a state-driven activity for long, the Government started trusting the private sector and the state made serious efforts to market its destinations on its own within and outside the country, which yielded good results, he recalled .“We knew that we needed to create an image of our own as a clean and green destination. We knew that we could, like Bali, create an image of our own. And, we did that”, he said.

Balakrishnan, who had held senior positions in Tourism Department for long years, however, said there had been moments of misgivings in some quarters over certain bold decisions but they had been resolved with the support of the leadership and timely interventions by senior bureaucrats.

Dr Venu V, Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue), and CEO Rebuild Kerala Initiative, said a sound government-industry partnership that nurtured over the years has greatly helped Kerala Tourism to expand and develop beyond the borders. Dr Venu, who also served as the Director and Secretary of state Tourism, said the industry leadership is to be patted on building a good partnership model. In this context, he referred to formation of Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) Society, which has been organizing a biennial travel mart.

A marketing strategy reinforced by strong content and infusion of new technology since the 1990s helped Kerala to be effectively projected as an attractive global destination, Dr Venu said.

However, the state can not escape the responsibility of adhering to high quality of products and services. “For instance, we can not afford a remarkable product like houseboats to be sullied and contaminated,“ Dr Venu added.

Making an overview of the current scenario, Rani George, Secretary, Kerala Tourism, said though Kerala is firmly positioned on the world tourism map it is also faced with stiff competition from other states. “It is true that other states are emulating Kerala. We are also facing aggressive competition from them”, she said, exhorting industry to live up to the challenge.

Noting that tourist preferences are shifting and people are increasingly looking forward to travelling as an experience, Smt George said Kerala has proved to be a trendsetter in experiential tourism by promoting Responsible and Sustainable Tourism models.

Listing out some of the new products on the line like MICE tourism, Champions Boat League, eco and adventure tourism, heritage projects centred round Alappuzha and Thalassery, she said a new waste-management model has been pushed into nine destinations to keep them clean and green.

Sharing the industry perspective, K C Chandrahasan, Vice Chairman, Kerala Travels Interserve Ltd, said it is important to promote young entrepreneurship in tourism sector, for which institutes like KITTS can play a key role. “The future lies in students. What is important is not training them to be employable youths but as entrepreneurs”, said Chandrahasan, a pioneer in travel and tourism trade in the state.

Guk Hwang, Deputy Regional Director UNWTO, said Kerala has tremendous scope in domestic tourism, which can be promoted in a big way by increasing connectivity with other parts of the country.

Moderating the session, E M Najeeb, Sr Vice president IATO, noted that the success of Kerala tourism was largely due to the firm support of the political and bureaucratic leadership. “It is an amazing journey, for the success of which all stake-holders had come together. There were efforts to malign tourism when it started changing. The political and bureaucratic leadership, irrespective of the government in power, has stood firmly to thwart such moves”, Najeeb added.

Moving on to a session on “Tourism and Technology,” Anand Parthasarathy , Editor, India Tech Online, said the phase of travel and tourism has changed since the post-digital age and the future of Kerala tourism depends on how well technology is adapted in all components of the industry.

“Indian tourists are as tech savvy as any international traveler. They prioritise value over cost. Are we ready to live up to that challenge?”, Shri Parthasarathy, who moderated the session, sought to know.

Pradeep Vijayan, Head, Supply Service South and East, Clear trip, said it is important to focus on what technology challenges that lie ahead for the robust growth of travel and hospitality sector. Neelkanth Pararath, MD, CRS Technologies, said adaption of the right technology at the right time is very important.

Sejo Jose, Chairman, IATO Kerala Chapter, said there is still a fear of technology on the part of some hotels and homestays, which needs to be overcome to take the business forward.