Kerala Tourism eyes 10-12% rise in footfalls, earnings in FY20

Kerala Tourism is targeting a healthy 10-12 per cent growth in both arrivals as well as in earnings in the year to March 2020 as the state has returned to normalcy after the worst deluge in a century had ravaged the entire state last year, a senior official has said.

Despite the killer floods, the state had recorded a 6 per cent increase in both footfalls and revenue in 2018.

It can be noted that tourism was one of the worst affected business sectors of the state's economy that was impacted by the worst deluge in a century that ravaged the entire state in August-September of 2018.

The tourism hot-spot Kochi and the surrounding areas and the Alappuzha, known for its famed boat-houses and backwaters, bore the brunt of the floods bringing the industry to a complete standstill.

Apart from remittances, tourism is the mainstay of the Kerala economy with 12 per cent of the state GDP is contributed by this.

"After the worst floods last year, tourism has recovered fully from January 2019. We ..