ALAPPUZHA: The Nehru Trophy Boat Race has given a boost to tourism here with thousands of foreign and domestic tourists descending on Alappuzha during the past few days.
Earlier, tourism here was restricted to the five-month period from October to February, but the situation has changed with the tourism department taking several steps to promote Kerala tourism abroad.
Kerala Houseboat Owners Association (KHOA) general secretary N.Sreekumar said that the visa on arrival at Thiruvananthapuram and Nedumbassery airports had helped the inflow of tourists. The boat race venue was filled with foreign tourists unlike in the past,” he said.
According to tourism department data, foreign tourist arrivals in the state went up from 7,94,696 in 2012 to 8,58,143 in 2013 registering an increase of 8.12 percent.
Tomi Pulikattil, a houseboat owner in Alappuzha, said there was rise in the number of domestic tourists also. The sea plane project would improve the flow of foreign tourists, he said.
The domestic tourist arrivals registered a 7.75 percent variation with the arrivals going up from 1,00,76,854 in 2012 to 1,08,57,811 last year. The total revenue, both direct and indirect, from the tourism sector touched Rs. 22, 926.55 crore compared to Rs. 21,125 crore in 2012. Foreign exchange earnings received by the tourism industry in the state went up from Rs. 4,571.69 crore in 2012 to Rs. 5.560.77 crore in 2013.
According to official figures, 41,711 foreign tourists and around two lakh domestic tourists visited Alappuzha in 2012.
