THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Nicholas, a small-time restaurant owner who runs his business near the Eve’s beach in Kovalam, now stocks more chicken than fishes. “The reason is simple. Now we have Arabs roaming around the beach than ever before and we are only too eager to cater to their tastes,” Mr Nicholas said. The state’s marquee beach destination, Kovalam, is witnessing the arrival of more Arab tourists than ever before.
This is not to say that the Arabs have replaced the English as Kovalam’s biggest visitors. “They are not expected to make up for the fall in English tourists any time soon but their presence will give a big boost to tourism in Kovalam,” said Xavier Panamburam who owns Aqua Delights in Kovalam. It was the blossoming of Arab Spring in 2011 that had induced wanderlust in the Arabs. “The study conducted by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) estimates that there will be an upsurge in outbound tourists in the Middle East as a result of the social upheaval in the area,” said Mr Ravindran Nair, a retired tourism official. Fast and cost-effective travel is another reason for an increase in tourists from Middle East. There are direct flights from the Middle East.
There is a commercial windfall from the arrival of the rich Arabs. “They stay long and spend heavily. So a number of hotels here have their websites in Arabic too,” Mr Manoj Kumar, a hotelier, said. The Tourism Department, too, is doing its bit to lure more long-haul pocket-heavy Arabs to the destination. “Arabs who know the Kerala culture closely through our people in the Gulf are now showing greater interest to travel to the state and savour its pristine beauty. The road shows the state is conducting quite frequently will further boost this inflow,’’ a top Tourism Department official said.
