Kerala, 'God's own country', is eyeing another heaven, Goa, to woo its high-spending tourists, mainly the foreigners.
"We are not interested in backpackers," Kerala Tourism Director Alkesh Kumar Sharma said on a visit to Goa with a team of travel agents to meet their counterparts there.
"Mass tourism is harmful to the fragile ecology and brings pressure on facilities and infrastructure," he said.
They proposed to work out a dual Goa-Kerala package for the benefit of international tourists after conducting a survey in Goa.
The focus, obviously, is on offering what Goa cannot.
In terms of tourist attractions, it is mainly the backwater retreats and the ayurvedic treatment -- both rejuvenating and therapeutic. Also hill stations, wildlife sanctuaries and ethnic tourism, but not the beaches.
In terms of infrastructure, Kerala boasts of enhanced facilities pertaining to roads, water supply, ecosystem, sewage, disposable units and convention centres.
Goa's bureaucracy, lack of political will and absence of a professional attitude has become Kerala's advantage.
Promoting tourism quite aggressively, creatively and in a professional manner, and the tremendous hike in its plan outlay from Rs 6 crore in 1994-95 to Rs 85 crore in 2002-03 has apparently borne fruits for Kerala.
To attract quality tourists coming down to Goa to enjoy its semi-western ambience, the southernmost state is now making travel easy with three international airports as well as the Konkan railway route.
Figures indicate an almost 11.37 per cent rise in international tourist arrivals, to the tune of 2.32 lakh, compared to a little rise in domestic tourists, around 56 lakh. "It is the highest recorded growth in the last five years," said Sharma.
Among the 14 lakh tourists who visit Goa every year, around three lakh are foreigners.
A large chunk of them come in charter flights, mainly from European countries. Kerala, however, receives only two charters every week. But its foreign exchange contribution to the country is worth Rs 525 crore, Sharma said.
"Our foreign visitor spends around Rs 2000 per day," he added. With private entrepreneurs and financial institutions investing around Rs 550 crore, it is now aiming for consistent growth paradigm.
"Tourism should be purely a private business and government should only be a facilitator," said Sharma.
