Rainy season halfway through but ‘monsoon tourism’ yet to take off

Alappuzha: The rainy season is already underway but the much-proclaimed ‘Monsoon Tourism’, remains a wet blanket in many of the major tourism destinations of Kerala, especially Alappuzha.

This is even as Kerala Tourism held a massive campaign of the state's monsoon tourism across West Asia, and spent a whopping Rs seven crore for promotional activities at airports in Dubai and Doha.

Alappuzha, with its splendid backwaters, lagoons, and beaches incidentally was ranked two in the list of districts that recorded maximum tourist footfalls last year. But the monsoon projects are still in the pipeline, even as time is running out fast.

The reason, the District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) remained headless for nearly six months before a new official finally took charge of the office last week. The new projects are still in the planning stage and time is running out fast.

“The earlier secretary Lijo Abraham was transferred out in January and none was appointed to the post for six months. While most of the other districts have rolled out special monsoon tourism projects, nothing of that sort has been implemented yet in Alappuzha,” said a senior official.

When contacted Anoop Kumar K, the new DTPC Secretary, said, “I’ve just taken charge. There are many concepts, but the same is in the planning and approval stage. We’ll soon come out with monsoon packages and projects.”

Stakeholders hit
The key stakeholders too point out that the turnout of visitors in the district is “poor and below their expectations.

“The situation is really bad these days. Only a handful of visitors are coming. I don’t know whether the government is actively implementing monsoon tourism programmes to woo tourists. Now we’re pinning our hope on the annual Nehru Trophy boat race which falls on August second week,” said Vinod V, President of All Kerala Houseboats Owners Association.

“We’ve bookings on the MICE (Meeting, Incentive Travel, Conferences and Exhibitions) segment, which mainly comprises the corporate community. The tourist flow is average. Those hotels which focus only on tourists have been badly hit,” said Arun Kumar, Secretary, the Chamber of Vembanad Hotels and Resorts.

Of late, Kerala Tourism has accorded much importance to monsoon tourism, earlier a lean period, and the same even featured in its campaigns abroad. The Tourism department spent a whopping Rs seven crore to conduct a campaign promoting the state’s monsoon tourism across West Asia, including the airports in Dubai and Doha.

Monsoon tourism underway in Wayanad
The Wayanad district administration is conducting a slew of monsoon projects of which ‘Splash’, a trade fair organized from June to September, is the most popular. The event features mud football, monsoon trekking, Kayaking, and monsoon marathon, among others.

Private parties take the lead
Meanwhile, private entrepreneurs and tourism associations like the Adimali Tourism Association have rolled out activities like bamboo kayaking and rafting to take advantage of the monsoon season and lure tourists.

“We’ve launched rafting and bamboo kayaking, as this is the best time to enjoy the activities. Visitors have started arriving as the news is spread,” said Ajith Pottas, an advocate and the legal advisor of the Adimali Tourism Association.