The Hindu Business Line : Kerala gearing for boom in business tourist arrivals

AS the surge of the tsunami waves have receded from the Kerala coastline, tourists have begun to flock back to God's Own Country in ever-increasing numbers, senior sources in the hospitality sector said.

"We have not seen occupancy like this in recent times. There was some bit of trepidation among foreign tourists during the early part of January, which vanished by the middle of the month. It has been brisk business ever since and the March bookings look extremely promising," said Mr Visheshwar Raj Singh, General Manager of the Trident Hilton, Kochi.

Europeans from all geographical origins have been coming back. So have visitors from the Orient, and leading the contingent have been tourists from Japan. With some official US Web sites having posted travel alerts to the South East Asian region in the wake of the tsunami, tourists from that country alone have trickled down this year, Mr Singh said.

The bookings for the domestic tourist season, which is set to start from the vacations beginning April, are also looking up.

"The tsunami has had a minimal and transitory impact on Kerala's tourism prospects. But what is propelling the current spurt in business is the changing perception from Kerala as a pure leisure destination to that of a business-cum-leisure destination," Mr Patanjali Sharma, Rooms Divisional Manager of Le Meridien said. The advent of Vallarpadam Container Transhipment Terminal on Kerala's map has created immense business and travel opportunities for the State.

With the contract for construction having been bagged by Dubai Port International, the hospitality industry in the State is positively upbeat.

"There will be frequent arrivals and departures of foreign engineers, contractors, site engineers and technicians which will give an added fillip to hospitality industry of the State. It may not be purely leisure tourism, but there will be greater number of business visitors. And with the increasing prospect of the LNG terminal, gas cracker terminal, port-based special economic zone, Marina etc becoming a reality, the number of business visitors to the State is poised to soar," Mr Sharma said.

Le Meridien will be adding another 70 suites to their existing 151-room capacity, making it one of the largest hotels in the State as far as room capacity is concerned. But, with the business prospects for Kochi looking up, even the existing room availability in the State will not suffice in the immediate future.

The tsunami has had virtually no impact on tourism industry of Kochi, but has had a very nominal impact on the occupancy levels at Kovalam beach resort in Thiruvananthapuram during the early part of January, Mr Sharma said. While visitors from all parts of Europe have been descending down to Kochi in large numbers, there are currently two large tourists groups from the US at the hotel.

"We have been gearing up not just for leisure tourist arrivals into the State, but have been building up infrastructure for meeting the demands of immediate and potential business visitors as well. Not only are we well placed to receive the leisure and business visitors, but we have also built up one of the largest conferencing facility in India," Mr Sharma said.

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