This is so for most of the country, and the reason that last year the ministry of tourism at the centre unveiled measures to make India a 365-day destination. This year, it is the turn of Kerala to do something of the sort.

A new advertising campaign to improve occupancies and business during the lean summer months, named Dream Season, has been launched. The effort was, in fact, kicked off last year with a special monsoon campaign.

This year though, the campaign is not just limited to advertising but is backed up with great deals, with discounts up to 50 per cent.

 "We have to face it, we do have a lean season," says Dr Venu V, secretary, Kerala Tourism. The state's tourism department has also created a microsite within www.keralatourism.org for Dream Season deals, where over 150 service providers are offering packages.

Kerala is considered a high-end destination, and, to an extent, Kerala Tourism has deliberately positioned it that way in the international market.

"One of the reasons for this new campaign is to dispel that notion in the domestic market and attract volumes during the lean months. We want to say to the domestic traveller that during the lean period, Kerala is very affordable," says Venu.

Last year, Kerala received 62 lakh domestic tourists and this year, it is targeting an addition of at least 10 per cent to that figure.

Along with this campaign, Kerala Tourism is also promoting Malabar as a new destination under the Unseen, Unknown Kerala initiative. Owing to its poor infrastructure, north Kerala has been lagging behind in tourism.

But Venu informs that the government is now encouraging investments in this area. Even the investment subsidy, which is 10 per cent in the rest of the state, has been increased by another 5 per cent in Malabar.

Clearly, there's more of God's Own Country waiting to be explored.