As the Congress-led UDF government in Keralam completed 100 days in office last month, Tourism Minister PC Vishnunadh said the state is targeting to double the tourism revenue from around Rs 45,000 crore last year to Rs 90,000 crore within five years. While the state recorded an all-time high of 2.5 crore domestic tourist arrivals in 2025, an increase of 12.63% from the previous year, Keralam is yet to reach the pre-Covid level of foreign tourist arrivals, which peaked at 11.89 lakh. It recorded 8.2 lakh foreign arrivals in 2025.
A carrying capacity study assesses the maximum number of people a destination can accommodate at a given time without leading to irreversible damage to its physical environment. Edited Excerpts:
What is the government doing to create new tourism destinations in the state?
We are working on expanding tourism beyond traditional destinations. Keralam has many untapped places, particularly in the northern part of the state like Munroe Island, Ashtamudi backwater in Kollam etc., which has significant tourism potential.
Our agenda is to develop 20 new destinations in one year and 100 new destinations over five years. We will provide the basic infrastructure and then encourage investors to come and invest in these areas. This expansion will be done in a sustainable way. We are actually taking the support of the local community. This responsible tourism initiative was started from Kumarakom (in Kottayam). With this initiative, the locals are getting jobs and the market is improving. Some of these new locations are Akalapuzha in Kozhikode, Kundara, Punnathur, Paravur etc.
Some of the destinations are overcrowded. We will soon conduct a carrying capacity study of Munnar, Alleppey etc. It is important because our places are ecologically very fragile.
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The Centre’s target is to increase the share of tourism in national GDP to 10% by 2030. Is Keralam’s growth in line with this?
Last year, Keralam received around Rs 45,000 crore from tourism. Our target is to double this within five years to Rs 90,000 crore or close to Rs 1 lakh crore. Tourism had reached a peak just before Covid-19, but there was a dip afterwards. Now, the sector is gradually picking up again. The domestic tourists recorded an increase of over 12% in 2025, compared to 2024. Similarly, foreign arrivals also recorded an increase of over 11% during the period. However, it is yet to reach pre-pandemic levels.
We are also pushing for cruise tourism. All the major and minor ports like Vizhinjam, Kochi, Kollam, Beypore, Azhikkal will be connected.
What is the composition for foreign tourists in Keralam? Is there any change over the years?
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Yes, there has been a change. Earlier, UK, US, Germany and France used to be the top four countries in terms of foreign arrivals in Keralam. Now, while the UK and the US remain in their position, Oman is the third country, which contributed to 7% of foreign tourists. That is why we are starting to focus on the Arab market. I attended the Arabian travel market recently and our B2B roadshow was a success. We organized an Indo-Arab connect with Arabian tour operators last month.
We are also developing new products such as monsoon tourism. We are also trying other markets such as Australia, Malaysia and Singapore.
Tourism is a state subject. What additional support do you expect from the Centre?
We are already receiving support from the Central government through schemes such as Swadesh Darshan. We have submitted proposals under Swadesh Darshan 2 and are seeking maximum support. There are also schemes such as ‘One State, One Destination’ and the PRASAD scheme, for which Keralam is submitting proposals. We are trying to make maximum use of these Central government programmes.
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I also met Union Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and requested maximum assistance and support for Keralam. Tourism in Keralam is also important for Indian tourism as a whole. It was a very positive meeting.
When it comes to jobs, tourism is seen as an ‘AI-proof’ sector. What are your plans on this?
You know, in Keralam, tourism is actually the only option. Keralam is not like Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Karnataka or Telangana. We do not have enough land to start any industries or something like that. If you try to do that, there will be resistance from the public on pollution, environment issues etc. So, tourism is the only thing where we have opportunities to expand and provide jobs.
What is being done to make it easier for investors to set up tourism projects?
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There was a long-pending demand to declare tourism an industry sector. We are going to do this. We have already completed consultations with stakeholders and the inter-departmental process is now under way. We will announce industry status for tourism before October 10.
At present, obtaining permissions from different departments such as local body, industry, urban development, rural development, and CRZ (Coastal Regulation Zone)-related issues can take two or three years.
Another important issue is single-window clearance. At present, the single-window mechanism is available for MSMEs, but not specifically for tourism. We are examining the benefits available to MSMEs and it will be extended to tourism investors as well. We are also looking at issues such as electricity tariff subsidies and interest support on loans.
Disclaimer: The correspondent was in Keralam at the invite of the state’s tourism department.
