For a population that has been under strict lockdown for the past 3 months, the urge to travel remains high on priority. When the novel Coronavirus struck, countries began shutting down borders and the last of the tourists hurriedly packed their bags, uncertain of what lay ahead. Within just a few days, several bookings that had been made by both foreign and domestic tourists got cancelled. With the lockdown falling into place soon after, the travel circuit came to a staggering halt.
During April and May, we usually get tourists from the north Indian states as a result of the school holidays. That season has been completely washed away. It’s zero revenue this year.
Stories of financial upheaval are unprecedented in the travel and tourism sector in Kerala, which contributes 10% of the state’s GDP and employs nearly 20 lakh people directly or indirectly. While other non-essential industries have begun to restart with restricted workforce, tourism naturally has been the hardest-hit and may take the longest to reopen.
The pandemic and its economic repercussions are a painful kick in the gut for the tourism department because the state had posted record footfall and revenues last year on the back of a successful marketing campaign and a generally positive word-of-mouth in its top source markets for inbound travellers from foreign countries. Last year, statistics show, more than 10 lakh foreign tourists and 2 crore domestic tourists visited the state in what are record figures in five years.
The impact of Covid-19 has been very high on our tourism. In 2019, our revenue in the travel and tourism sector stood at Rs 45,000 crore. Based on that, we estimate that if it takes a few more months for the sector to reopen, our losses would amount to Rs 20,000 crore this year. With absolutely no business in March, April and May, we lost completely on domestic tourists.
Post the 2018 flood, which left disastrous effects on the state’s tourism prospects and washed out that year’s peak season, the government went in for an action plan to estimate losses and discuss ways on reviving the sector. A readiness survey was conducted on prime destinations like Alappuzha and Idukki to examine whether they were in a state to receive tourists.
Many enthusiasts did PR work and strategic marketing on focused markets such as UK, Europe, US and the Middle East. Government and trade worked together, side by side. While trade bodies did marketing of their packages and plans, government advertised the destinations.
But in contrast to the floods, where only Kerala was affected, the post-Covid-19 scenario is entirely different and perhaps much more serious. The state’s source markets for inbound travelers like US, UK and Europe are the most affected across the world. Even in India, states like Maharashtra and Gujarat whose travellers have flowed into Kerala in large numbers in recent years, are reporting high case-loads of the infectious disease. Add to that, the recession like conditions and the reducing spending capacity of the public on leisure travel.
Our responsibility on local travel
For a population that has been under strict lockdown, the urge to travel remains high on priority. A simple perusal of the social media platforms will confirm that. While flying abroad or even to other states at the moment is fraught with dangers, travelling to drivable distances within the state is an idea that tour operators and hoteliers are willing to capitalize on, at least for the short-term. With adequate safety parameters and social distancing, such local travelling could be a boost for those on both the demand and supply chains.
People would be keen to travel to places which are less crowded, there are responsible tourism packages like village experience, storytelling, cultural experience which can work in rural areas. Some adventure activities in open areas would also get preference.
This would mean local travellers would get access to luxury hotel options at concessional rates which were initially tailor made for foreign tourists, especially in batches. Those working on the scheme feel this is a win-win for both the hoteliers and the travellers.
The crisis has to be converted into an opportunity, this could be the perfect short-term plan. Weekend trips to short distances is not likely to leave a hole in the pocket too. We can travel ourselves within the state because after spending three stressful months, we would need some kind of relaxation.
Travel and hospitality industry has always responded positively to economic and financial downturns in India. Dynamic pricing has been the way of life for many, many years. Prices will become much more affordable for people at hotels. The overall trend of where and how people will travel will change. They will be far more comfortable getting in their car and driving to a place six or eight hour away. That will be their big trip.
Now those trips would be taken domestically. The thing about India is that there are a number of fantastic domestic destinations. (I've added some of my less explored travel stories below).
People would hopefully rediscover them in larger numbers. The hotels will adapt. The pricing will be adjusted because they are looking to get back business.
Kerala’s flexibility can be leveraged
Apart from other Indian states Kerala has been its decades of investment in public health and education and a stronger, decentralized Panchayatiraj system. And this chain of thought is exactly what officials are hoping to leverage to attract tourists to the state in the long-term. Kerala’s flexibility in the face of the highly-infectious Corona Virus with the limited resources it has earned global recognition even as developed nations like Italy, US and UK struggled to contain the outbreak. And this precisely gives the state a halo of a safe, peaceful destination that tourists would like to explore.
For the last 2-3 years, the tourism sector in Kerala had been having a lot of problems, but we were able to bounce back. Today, the whole world is talking about how Kerala has withstood Covid-19 and how its healthcare system has worked. That itself is a tool of marketing. We are very optimistic!
Kerala has done an enormous job of branding itself. The campaigns internationally have been extremely strong and it’s very much a long-term game. That vision of how the state is being branded from a tourism perspective makes enormous difference to how it’s positioned in a traveller’s mind. People have very well connected to it and Kerala has made itself a desirable location for life. And when people look at travelling to India, Kerala will be one of the places on their mind not only because of the brand, but also because of the safety record.
That signs of such tourist interest despite the prevailing situation are already visible is heartening to many in the sector who have been worried about future prospects.
“That’s a good sign”
We have to spread the word that our state is a safe space!
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