A houseboat in the backwaters of Kerala as part of the state's tourism. (Representative image)
Credit: iStock Photo
Thiruvananthapuram: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to Lakshadweep and promotion of the tourism potential of the island could bring cheers to Kerala tourism too as Kerala is the gateway to Lakshadweep.
Lakshadweep is 220 to 440 kilometres off the Kerala coast and the major transportation facilities to the islands are flights and ships operated from Kochi. Hence any increase in tourist flow to Lakshadweep will result in more transit through Kerala, which will in turn boost the state's tourism sector too.
After Modi's promotion of Lakshadweep, there has been massive social media campaigns involving celebrities to promote Lakshadweep tourism.
Tourism industry sources said that even if the Centre introduces flights from different locations to Lakshadweep in future to boost tourism, Kerala could also stand to benefit owing to the proximity to the island as well as availability of ship services.
Kerala Tourism secretary K Biju told DH that owing to the connectivity factor, any boost in Lakshadweep's tourism sector could naturally lead to an increase in tourists to Kerala. The state's tourism operators may then come out with packages to tap into the opportunity.
Confederation of Kerala Tourism Industry president E M Najeeb also expressed hopes that a boost to Lakshadweep's tourism sector could have its positive impact on Kerala tourism.
However, Kerala Travel Mart former president Baby Mathew Somatheeram said that even as an increase in tourists to Lakshadweep could help Kerala tourism, the beach tourism sector of Kerala may suffer a setback as tourists looking for beach tourism may prefer Lakshadweep than Kerala.
Kerala has been witnessing a boom in tourist flow in the post-Covid scenario. The flow of foreign tourists recorded a 471 percent increase in 2022 compared to 2021 and domestic tourist flow recorded 150 percent increase, as per Kerala tourism department's data.