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In the first nine months of calendar year 2023, almost 1.6 crore domestic tourists visited Kerala, clocking a 19 per cent growth over the previous year, Kerala Tourism officials visiting Gujarat said on Tuesday. The tourist numbers for the state are expected to cross two crore in 2024.
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“The year 2024 will be a record-breaking year for Kerala Tourism. This year we have come out with innovative products like heli-tourism, which will connect the state’s top tourist destinations with helicopter service. Kerala is the first state in the country to come out with a comprehensive heli-tourism policy. A micro-site has been created giving details of travel packages offered by various helicopter service providers,” Sajesh N, information officer, Kerala Tourism, told Business Line. The officials from Kerala were in Ahmedabad to market the tourist potential of the state.
As part of the efforts to boost tourism in Kerala, an International Paragliding Festival is being held at Vagamon in Idukki district from March 14-17, an International Surfing Festival is being held at Varkala from March 29-31, Mega Mountain Biking event MTB Kerala 2024 is planned at Priyadarshini tea plantations in Wayanad from April 26-28, and the Malabar River Festival 2024 will be held at Kodencherry in Kozhikode from July 25-28.
“During the pre-Covid period, in 2019, 1.82 crore domestic tourists visited Kerala. In 2022, we received 1.86 crore tourists. Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra are among the major states from which domestic tourists are arriving. We expect more than two crore domestic tourists in 2024,” Sajesh added.
However, Kerala is yet to attract the same number of foreign tourists. In 2019, over 11 lakh foreign tourists visited the state; in 2023 it was 4.5 lakhs.
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