Recording the highest growth rate in tourist arrivals in 24 years, Kerala attracted around 1.96 crore tourists in 2019, to post a healthy growth of 17.2% as compared to the figures the previous year.
The tourist footfall last year was pegged at 1,95,74,004, including 1,83,84,233 domestic and 11,89,771 foreign tourists, according to statistics compiled by Kerala Tourism.
In 2018, 1,67,01,068 tourists visited Kerala, which included 1,56,04,661 domestic and 10,96,407 foreign tourists.
The growth rate in domestic tourist arrivals was 17.81% and foreign tourists 8.52%. The earnings from tourism stood at ₹45,010.69 crore, an increase of 24.14%.
“We have bounced back with great vigour after unprecedented floods and torrential rain in 2018 and 2019. Our figures show that there was a significant increase in footfall from May 2019 and it prevailed till the end of the year,” Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran said in a release.
Industry optimistic
“We are optimistic about sustaining the growth momentum this year also, but it will depend on how quickly the world finds a solution to the COVID-19 outbreak,” he added.
Ernakulam attracted the largest number of domestic tourists (45,82,366), followed by Thiruvananthapuram (33,48,618), Thrissur (25,99,248), and Idukki (18,95,422). Ernakulam topped in foreign tourist arrivals with 5.22 lakh (44% of foreign tourists to the State).
Ernakulam tops
The foreign exchange earnings (FEE) from tourism crossed ₹10,000 crore, touching ₹10,271.06 crore, a growth of 17.19% over 2018. Ernakulam alone generated ₹4,508.32 crore, accounting for 43.9% of the fee from the sector. In terms of revenue, Ernakulam came on top with ₹12,816.54 crore, followed by Thiruvananthapuram (₹8,700.12 crore), Thrissur (₹4,646.08 crore), and Idukki (₹3,984.4 crore).
