Kerala is a very lucrative site for tourists that offers lush and tropical Malabar Coast, beautiful backwaters and clean cities and towns. It is also one of the top ten paradises in the world and attracts a lot of foreigners every year.
The Kerala Government has taken a lot of steps in the past to promote tourism in Kerala, by making cities clean and impeccable, developing tourist-friendly sites and creating activities that tourists would love. The state offers some out-of-the-world experiences to travellers and one cannot see hills and ocean in such tandem.
Kerala Tourism Ministry now plans to adorn about 200 taxis in Dubai with Kerala tourism ads that would say ‘A Faraway Land Four Hours Away’. IANS says “The advertisement will focus on the high connectivity, popular destinations, backwaters and ayurvedic therapies of Kerala.”
There were similar campaigns that were run in Mumbai Metro and London Taxis and officials claim they contributed to the tourism in Kerala. However, there are no numbers to substantiate the claims, and recent visa reforms also might have helped improve the situation.
Ironically, Dubai is one of the most preferred tourist destinations from India, and UAE as a whole houses a lot of Indians, and others from the Indian subcontinent. The Middle East is quite close to India, and the Government hopes this will be another factor to increase tourism.
UAE also doesn’t have any place with Kerala like weather and facilities, which make a very attractive holiday destination. UAE is also home to a lot of Europeans, and Kerala can be a relatively cheaper but equally wonderful holiday destination for them.
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Kerala tourism at a glance
Foreign Tourist arrival to Kerala during the year 2015 was close to 1 million, with increase of 5.9% over the previous year. On the other hand, domestic tourist arrival to Kerala was approximately 12.5 million, an increase of 6.6% over the previous year.
The total revenue (including direct & indirect) from Tourism during 2015 was Rs 26,690 Crores, a 7.25% increase over the previous year. In short, Kerala tourism is doing extremely well, with extremely conveniently designed packages for travellers.
Interestingly, of the 1 million foreign tourists, around 100,000 were from the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia accounting for more than half of these visitors. 200 taxis in Dubai with Kerala tourism information should be able to promote God’s own country in the Middle East.