The Hindu Business Line : Kerala: Cashing in on the tourist dollar

AS Kerala opens its doors to the thousands of tourists who are expected to come to taste the offerings of God's Own Country this season, some recent happenings in the State's travel and tourism sector do not augur well for the future of the industry.

Thanks to the blitzkrieg of advertising campaigns by Kerala Tourism touting the charms of the land and thanks also to dozens of press meets and public addresses by the State's tourism ministry and bureaucracy, it is easy to get carried away by the impression that Kerala's success as an increasingly upmarket and pricey destination is due to the State Government's single-handed dedication and unstinting promotional efforts.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Paradoxical as it may sound for a State that is not exactly renowned for an abundance of entrepreneurial gung-ho, history tells us that the first few important breakthroughs in niche tourism came from a handful of pioneering tour operators and hoteliers. By innovating new experiences for the alert independent traveller, they turned what was essentially a one-trick (read Kovalam) pony into a bouquet of vivid and enticingly different destinations.

Be it the houseboats that opened up the backwaters - and revived, to some extent, the dying tradition of boatbuilding - or the treetop layovers amidst thick woods or the ayurvedic spas that rejuvenate both body and mind, all these were radical departures from the official brand of government-sponsored tourism - which boiled down to a chauffeured romp in an Ambassador car from one government guest house to another.

Thus, the recent hullabaloo in the tourism orchard - the fight over the ownership of Halcyon Castle at Kovalam, the controversy over the move for a marina at Bolghatty Island in Kochi, the contentious move to hand over the Pathiramanal island in the backwaters to a hotel chain, not to mention the perennial hartals and bandhs over matters ranging from suicides to highways - have mainly served to function as a scarecrow.

This is a real pity, since other States - especially the neighbouring ones - have now realised that it is not too difficult to carve out a distinctive image in the travel and hospitality industry and attract paying travellers, even if you have only mediocre wares to sell.

Thus, Karnataka is suddenly discovering it has all that Kerala has - and more. Similarly, tiny Pondicherry is broadcasting to the world that its seductive appeal does not end with beaches and a French colonial past.

And even Tamil Nadu - which would not appear to need much promotion, given its heady mix of dance, music and culture - has jumped onto the bandwagon, like some Johnny-come-lately panting to stay abreast of the crowd.

There is very good reason for this seemingly newfound itch for tourism among the southern States. The world's travellers are slowly but decidedly realizing that, from a social-developmental angle and from the point of view of law and order, the South has what it takes to "beat" the North or the West or the East of India.

That is why GEO Special, the bimonthly single-topic travel magazine from the reputed GEO publishing group of Germany, has decided to introduce a prominent section on Kerala in its forthcoming issue on India. To be sure, smart governments throughout Southern India are realising the power of the tourist-dollar. Kerala, the pioneer, should not now fall behind for want of a professional, transparent and hands-off policy towards the development of the travel and tourism sector.

The writer can be contacted at kgkumar@gmail.com

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