Domestic tourist arrivals in 2021 witnessed a sharp rise of 51 per cent in Kerala as compared to 2020, reports Malayala Manorama. Apparently, a significant number of Indian tourists visited various destinations in Kerala every month in 2021, except May and June, when the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic peaked. However, there was a fall in foreign tourist arrivals, too, reportedly, due to restrictions on international flights.
Most popular districts
As per the official data, while 49,88,972 domestic tourists arrived in Kerala in 2020, the number increased to 75,37,617 in 2021. The district, which witnessed the highest spike of over 100 per cent, is Wayanad as per the reports, indicating that it was visited by more than double the number of domestic tourists in 2021 compared to 2020. Other districts, which received more than 50 per cent of domestic tourists in 2021 compared to the previous year, are Pathanamthitta (an increase of 95.75 per cent), Idukki (88.43 per cent), Alappuzha (70.56 per cent), Kasaragod (65.36 per cent) and Kollam (52.38 per cent).
Yet to regain 2019 numbers
Even though the figures from 2021 offer hope, they don’t come anywhere near the number of domestic tourists welcomed by Kerala in 2019, post which the pandemic struck the world. In 2019, as many as 1.83 crore domestic tourists arrived in Kerala, which was more than 1.08 crore above the number in 2021. In other words, the domestic arrivals in 2021 were 59 per cent less, compared to 2019.
