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Too many tourists, too little rooms in Kerala

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  • Too many tourists, too little rooms in Kerala

    Sunday September 4 2005 11:08 IST

    KOCHI: With the World Tourism and Travel Council (WTTC) estimating that Kerala will witness an 11.6 per cent growth per annum in tourism in the next decade, the highest in any state, a major challenge facing ‘God's own country’ is lack of adequate hotel accommodation for visitors.

    As per WTTC estimates, Kerala is followed by Turkey with 10.2 per cent in terms of tourism growth.

    International and domestic tourist arrivals to this tiny state, known for its virgin beaches, meandering backwaters and hill resorts, has swelled. About 3.53 lakh foreign tourists visited Kerala in 2004 against about 2.94 lakh in the previous year -- a growth of over 17 per cent.

    Besides, about 62 lakh domestic travellers visited Kerala in 2004 against 58.7 lakh in 2003, a growth of 5.5 per cent.

    But is the state ready to welcome all its guests? Kerala does not have enough rooms and government is making all efforts to increase the room strength, according to principal secretary, tourism, E K Bharat Bhushan.

    Kerala government has come up with a unique 'Vazhoyoram' project, which envisages providing wayside amenities to tourists. These are not top class hotels but would add up to 250 rooms in the next two years, Bhusan said.

    Home stays and paying guest accommodations are other areas being thought of by Kerala tourism to augment its room strength.

    According to Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the state government should take immediate steps to increase the supply of hotel rooms, reduce luxury tax and review its tax policies.

    Lack of enough hotel rooms was a major problem facing the Indian tourism industry, says Amitabh Kant, joint secretary, ministry of tourism. India would need at least hundred thousand rooms in the next four years with the tourism boom expected. The major bottleneck is in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, he said.

    The challenge before Kerala and Indian tourism is to double the capacity of rooms. "If we open the skies and there are not enough rooms, the boom will turn into doom," according to Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) president Subash Goyal.

    India is short of at least 50,000 hotel rooms, particularly in the four-star and five-star categories.

    A suggestion that emerged at the recent IATO conference is that government should give land at concessional rates or on lease to build new hotels.

    Another factor is hotel rooms are being exorbitantly priced. "We are outpricing ourselves from neighbouring countries like Thailand, Malayasia and Singapore and Sri Lanka," industry sources say.

    With Kerala receiving the nod for setting up its fourth international airport at Kannur, the state would be well connected, Bhushan said adding the aim is to develop the Kannur airport on the lines of the public-private partnership at the Nedumbassery airport, the first such venture in the country.

    The state has also launched a programme called 'clean destinations' with the help of self-help groups and community participation. Tribal communities are also being roped into the programme. This has been a "great success" since its launch six months ago, Bhushan said.

    In 2004, the growth in tourist arrivals to India has been 36 per cent in value (US dollars) and 25 per cent in volume. In 2003, there was a growth of 25 per cent in value and 16 per cent in volume.

    About 3.37 million tourists visited the country last year and tourism sector earned an additional 4.8 billion us dollar last year, Kant told PTI.

    By 2007, India should focus on 10 million tourists, he said. This year from January to July, the growth has been 32 per cent in value and 28 per cent in volume.

    The state governments would have to play 'proactive' roles in allocating sites, he said adding the biggest constraint was in Bangalore.

    In Gurgaon near Delhi, about 28 new hotels are coming up now.
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  • #2
    Some Pics of Kerala

    Some Pics of Kerala
    Attached Files
    Last edited by Endangered; 04 Sep 05,, 10:10. Reason: To add some text into it
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    • #3
      More Pics

      More Pics
      Attached Files
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      • #4
        What? No pictures of Kovalam beach?
        Love your enemies...it'll drive them nuts!!! :)

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        • #5
          Originally posted by hubby
          What? No pictures of Kovalam beach?
          That's all i have right now; if you are so keen about more pics why dun you upload some more? i would appriciate that instead of looking at ur question
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          • #6
            Arrey if I had then I would have uploaded instead of asking. Ok, lemme search for some. :)
            Love your enemies...it'll drive them nuts!!! :)

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