Alphons Kannanthanam, 64, MoS (Ind.), Tourism: For tapping tourism potential, keyword is ‘civilisational heritage’

Kannanthamam has his job cut out with the latest mid-year Economic Survey noting that India has a lot of tourism potential that is yet to be tapped.

“We are a 5,000-year-old civilisation. We are much more than incredible. Our heritage is our USP and we have to devise ways to market it,” Kannanthanam, 64, told The Indian Express.

Former bureaucrat Alphons Kannanthanam, the new Minister of State (independent charge) for Tourism, is confident that he will be able to capitalise on India’s “civilisational heritage”. “India has immense potential. We are a 5,000-year-old civilisation. We are much more than incredible. Our heritage is our USP and we have to devise ways to market it,” Kannanthanam, 64, told The Indian Express. A 1979-batch Kerala cadre IAS officer, he feels his home state “needs nothing more than tourism” provided it can generate jobs and maintain quality.

Kannanthamam has his job cut out with the latest mid-year Economic Survey noting that India has a lot of tourism potential that is yet to be tapped. As per industry estimates, the size of the Indian tourism and hospitality sector was $117.7 billion in 2014 and is expected to touch $418.9 billion by 2022. The cabinet berth came as a surprise. “I was on my way to Kozhikode and was at the Bangalore airport when I received a call from the Prime Minister’s Office asking me to come to New Delhi,” he said.

He had an eventful career as a bureaucrat, earning a reputation as a “demolition man” in Delhi and being credited with helping Kottayam attain 100% literacy. In 2006, he quit the civil services and won the Christian-dominated Kanjirappally assembly seat in Kerala as a Left-backed independent. He joined the BJP some years later and was inducted in the party national executive.

While his elevation is seen as part of a larger gameplan to make inroads into Kerala, it also involves the risk of costing the BJP its Hindu votes. Asked if the party will gain in Kerala after his induction, he said, “The prospects are very good. I enjoy good rapport with all sections of society across the board.” BJP Kerala president Kummanam Rajasekharan described the elevation as the Narendra Modi government’s Onam gift to Malayalees.

Ananthakrishnan G

Ananthakrishnan G. is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express. He has been in the field for over 23 years, kicking off his journalism career as a freelancer in the late nineties with bylines in The Hindu. A graduate in law, he practised in the District judiciary in Kerala for about two years before switching to journalism. His first permanent assignment was with The Press Trust of India in Delhi where he was assigned to cover the lower courts and various commissions of inquiry. He reported from the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India during his first stint with The Indian Express in 2005-2006. Currently, in his second stint with The Indian Express, he reports from the Supreme Court and writes on topics related to law and the administration of justice. Legal reporting is his forte though he has extensive experience in political and community reporting too, having spent a decade as Kerala state correspondent, The Times of India and The Telegraph. He is a stickler for facts and has several impactful stories to his credit. ... Read More

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Cabinet reshuffle