THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The tourism industry in Kovalam is highly skeptical of the success of the coming tourism season. Falling tourist arrivals, lack of innovation, stiff competition and government apathy are some of the issues that are smothering tourism in one of the country’s most popular beach destinations.
Contradicting official claims, industry insiders say that foreign arrivals have dwindled alarmingly. “Every year the tourism department comes out with amazing figures of foreign tourist arrival but the occupancy levels tell the truth.
Rooms are less than 50 percent full on an average,” said Kerala Hotel and Restaurants Association president G. Sudhiesh Kumar who runs Hotel Seaface in Kovalam.
The poor occupancy during October, when the season usually takes off, is an ominous sign. Mr Kumar, however, is fervently hoping that the arrivals will pick up by the middle of December.
“The bookings do not reflect our hope but since this being a digital age travelers behave differently. Unlike earlier when they used to book at six months in advance, now they can make an online booking a week ago,” Mr Kumar said.
Rebranding the destination through innovative tourism activities seems to be a way out. “The unfortunate reality is that Kovalam can boast of no activities like ropeways, water sports or even convention centres to attract tourists,” said Panicker of Green Isle Vacations. To make matters worse, Kovalam is also seen as a pricey destination. “Tourism is given industry status only in paper. The industry here is generally denied electricity and water tariff reduction,” Panicker said.
The high-end tag is driving tourists to competing destinations like Goa and neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka and Maldives.
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