Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 7 (PTI) The COVID-19 outbreak had put tourism sector in ventilator, but Kerala has made a remarkable comeback by welcoming 1.88 crore domestic tourists in 2022, which is an all-time record in the state’s history, Tourism Minister P A Mohammed Riyas said on Tuesday.
The pandemic was severe when the second Pinarayi Vijayan government came to power in 2021 but it had waited with detailed plans and programmes to implement in the sector as soon as the cases showed a decline, he said.
If travel was not possible, there won’t be any tourism and the sector was actually in a ventilator during the COVID-19 period, he told the state Assembly.
Domestic tourism was given prominence in the programmes prepared to be implemented in the post-COVID period and the government achieved its target through coordinated efforts.
“As a result, by the end of 2022, it had become the year which Kerala witnessed the most number of domestic tourists after its formation. A total of 1.88 crore domestic tourists arrived in the state in that year,” Riyas noted.
A growth of 2.63 per cent was achieved in the tourism sector during the period.
Till then, 1,83,84,233 was the highest number of domestic tourists arrived in the southern state in its history, the minister told the assembly during the Question Hour session.
Six districts- Pathanamthitta, Wayanad, Idukki, Alappuzha, Malappuram and Thiruvananthapuram-displayed good performance in welcoming domestic holidayers.
Compared to the COVID period, the number of foreign tourists also registered a growth in the state, he added. PTI LGK ROH ROH
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