Monsoon adds to the tourist carnival

New Delhi, Nov 5 (UNI) Kerala is all set to break records in the arrival of foreign tourists in 2006, a clear sign that monsoon tourism has started picking up in the "God's Own Country." Even as India as a whole registered a growth of nearly 12 per cent in the foreign tourist arrival in the first eight months of the current year, Kerala has been independently way ahead with an impressive growth of 30.14 per cent till August.

The highest ever of 25 per cent for India was recorded in 2004.

The earlier highest growth for Kerala was not more than 15 per cent.

''The 30.14 growth is the highest figure ever recorded by Kerala tourism ever since the state was systematically promoted as a God's Own Country destination nearly 15 years ago," Kerala Tourism Director D Suman told UNI here today.

In this context, he pointed out that the tourists arriving here are for leisure and not for business. But in the case of other states, the number of foreign business visitors are also added to the leisure tourists.

''This makes the achievement of Kerala all the more coveted," he claimed.

Reeling out figures, he said the unprecedented growth in foreign tourist flow this year was partly due to the increased arrival during the monsoon months of June, July and August which used to be a lean season for all activities, including tourism.

The huge response to monsoon tourism campaign has automatically elevated Kerala to the status of a 365-day-a-year destination.

The sudden spurt in tourists had created accommodation problem.

However, Mr Suman said appropriate measures have already been put in place to create more hotel rooms by encouraging private investment in the hospitality industry.

''Our target now is an investment of Rs 1000 crore for infrastructure creation and generation of 50,000 jobs every year in the tourism sector,'' he said.

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