The State government will come up with a comprehensive master plan, ‘Mission 2030’, for tourism sector next year, Tourism Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas has said. Addressing a seminar on tourism held here as part of Keraleeyam, Mr. Riyas said the master plan will lay down policies and suggestions on matters including increasing tourism’s contribution to State’s GDP from the current 12% to 20%. Regarding dry day, a decision will be taken after discussions with the Excise Minister, he said.
Noting that Kerala Tourism’s major focus in 2024 will be on leveraging larger-scale private investment, the Minister said the government alone cannot enhance the State’s presence on global tourism domain. A two-day tourism investors meet, scheduled on November 16, is an important endeavour in this direction which will also serve as a venue for discussing new ideas and opportunities with investors, the Minister said.
“We have to increase private investments in the tourism sector where the cooperative sector and individuals can also partner with the government. The Glass Bridge at Vagamon is an example of public-private partnership (PPP) model; still we are yet to fully utilise the potential of PPP models,” he observed. The Minister also informed that heli tourism and cruise tourism will be developed in partnership with private players next year. Besides, the renovated 132-year-old Feroke Bridge across Chaliyar River will be dedicated in 2024.
“Work on another bridge at Aluva will commence in 2024. All these projects are being implemented with the cooperation of public and private sectors,” Mr. Riyas said. The innovative ‘Kerala Model’ of tourism development has set a model for the entire world on account of its emphasis on sustainability and inclusivity, he said.
Elaborating the achievements and initiatives of Kerala Tourism in the recent years, the Minister said notably, the State was able to sustain the flow of “revenge tourism” post pandemic by introducing trendy attractions like Vagamon glass bridge, floating bridge, cinema tourism and caravan tourism as part of leisure tourism activities. Citing the progress of Wayanad, he said during pre-COVID-19 era, around 11,43,710 domestic tourists visited Wayanad while in 2022, their number rose to 15,09,207.
The Minister also lauded the contributions of Kerala Travel Mart Society (KTM) and other stakeholders to the sector, besides the globally-acknowledged activities of State Responsible Tourism Mission (RTM). Tourism Secretary Biju. K said the tourism sector contributes 10% of State’s GDP and total employment generation in this sector is about 15 lakh. Explaining the spectacular growth of the sector, Mr. Biju said the total revenue from the sector in 2022 was ₹35,168.42 crore while foreign exchange earnings in 2022 was ₹2,792.42 crore and direct earnings from domestic tourists in the same period was ₹24,588.96 crore.
