KOCHI: The tourism sector is concerned about the decline in the inflow of foreign tourists compared to the last three years. The downward trend in the revenue generated from the high spending foreign tourists will adversely hit the sector. The reasons cited, by the authorities concerned, for the decline in the trend are global recession and easy access to cheap destinations like Sri Lanka and other Southeast Asian countries. According to the tourism department officials, more than 5.5 lakh foreign tourists visited Kerala in 2009 and the number grew up to 6.5 lakh in 2010. Although, the tourism department does not have a clear statistic of the arrival this year, the officials believe that the numbers may not grow as last three years. In 2009, the growth rate in terms of arrival was 18.31 per cent. This year, it may stop between 10-12 per cent. In 2009, the average spending by a foreigner per day was `3,200 and this amount touched `3,600 in 2010. However, this year, the numbers may drop, hitting the tourism sector hard. Ernakulam DTPC secretary T N Jayashankar said that the Kochi tourism is badly affected by the current trend. “The prime reason behind the receding trend is the global recession. The number of high spending foreign tourists has gone down. Another reason is that India is no more a cheap destination as compared to Sri Lanka and other Southeast Asian countries.” “Many airlines and international tourist agents are giving three-day tour packages to Sri Lanka for just Rs 10,000. The packages to Southeast Asian countries like Thailand and Indonesia are also cheaper than packages to India,” he added. In response to the trend, DTPC has come forward to create awareness among agents and hoteliers and prompt them to offer cheaper packages. “In such a scenario, only thing that can be done is to give cheap packages to direct the flow of tourists from other countries to ours,” Jayashankar said.
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