Socio-economic importance of tourism in Kerala

Tourism in India has assumed an unprecedented importance in recent years and therefore efforts have been made at the national and international levels to promote it through different media. In the year 1984, the total international tourist traffic approximated to 300 million, while the total world travel receipts amounted to 100 billion US dollars. The share of the developed countries accounted for about 87 percent, whereas that of developing countries was only about 13 percent from the 300 million world travelers.

Remarkably, the governments of the developing countries began devoting more attention to the promotion of tourism through an integrated approach. In these countries, tourism has come to be recognized as one of the most vital industries. Dudley, a famous researcher, regards tourism as “the most important industry in the world”. To quote Vladimir Ankudinov, Head of the Foreign Affairs Board of Russia, “Electronics, plastic, computer and many other new industries are expanding at a much faster rate of growth than the old classical industries. But there is one industry for which the rate of growth can well compete with any of the new comers. That industry is tourism”.

It may be noted that the foreign tourist traffic in India during the period 1951-1984 rose from a modest figure of 16,839 to a staggering 12,10,752 in 1984, while the foreign exchange earnings increased from 56.50 crores to Rs.1200 crores during the decade from 1973-74 to 1983-84. It is projected to increase to Rs.1800 crores in 1987-88. The earnings from tourism have already crossed more than 10,000 crore rupees in this decade. It would be pertinent, therefore, to evaluate the importance of tourism in its various dimensions.

In Kerala packages designed for particular age groups and also packed with a diversity of options helped to attract more high profile tourists and it resulted in a phenomenal increase in earnings from package tourism. From obscure beginnings, the private sector has totally revolutionized the travel and tourism trade in the state. Hotels and resorts offer significant discounts during the off season to attract the domestic travelers.