Tourism season draws blank

Malabar’s once thriving tourism industry is now feeling the heat of recession as there has been a steady dip in the flow of foreign as well as domestic tourists.

“The stream of IT crowds from Bengaluru has also been hit as many MNCs went in for massive cuts in the recreational expenses of their employees as part of cost cutting measures,’’ said K.R. Vancheeswarn, general secretary, Wayanad Tourism Organisation.

“There is a reduction of at least 40 per cent this year on the flow of both domestic and foreign tourists to Wayanad,’’ he said. “November was very bad for us and December does not look at all promising.

Normally our rooms would have been booked much in advance for the holiday season from December to January,’’ he added stating that bookings for many resorts for the peak period from December 24 to January 2 were yet to be filled.

The months of December and January, especially the period over Christmas and New Year, are the peak season for tourist arrivals into the state.

“There has been a slowdown in the flow of foreigners which has impacted the tourism industry of the state,’’ said Peter J. Pulliattu, regional general manager, Kadavu Resort and Ayurveda Centre, Kozhikode. “The Malabar region is only slightly affected as the industry here depended more on domestic tourism,’’ he added.

The lack of sufficient air-connectivity with other major cities like Mumbai and Delhi is also hampering tourist inflow to the region, said K. Raveendran, secretary, Malabar Tourism Organisation.

“Another reason is the increased airfare that is being charged from Gulf nations to the Kozhikode sector,’’ he added.

Raveendran also said that to make matters worse the number of Asian countries vying for foreign tourists had increased many fold in the recent past. Countries like Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Indonesia were aggressively marketing their destinations in the international market, he said.

However, Jose Kainadi of Vythiri Resorts was of the opinion that each tourism property should explore their own markets instead of depending on other organisations or government agencies.

“We are not affected as we have been meticulously expanding our client base during the past few years,” he told this newspaper.

Source - deccanchronicle