Rising from its worst calamity in nearly a century, Kerala is already preparing for one of its biggest revenue earning sectors — tourism.

putting the August floods behind it, the Kerala Tourism Department is gearing to launch a revived campaign — God’s Own Country 2.0.

Speaking to BusinessLine , P Bala Kiran, Director, Kerala Tourism, said the State’s tourism sector suffered infrastructure losses of ₹100 crore, while business losses stood at around ₹500 crore.

But, unfazed, the State is readying for the 10th edition of Kerala Tourism Mart — the biggest event for the State to be held between September 27-30.

“Things are now totally under control in Kerala. After 18-20 days, there are no reports of epidemic so far. Since, what we experienced was the worst in a century, we are planning to redefine our tourism after this incident. To revive the confidence of tourists we are planning to launch a fresh campaign under God’s Own Country- version 2.0,” said Bala Kiran.

Presently, tourism contributes about 10.3 per cent to Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) and provides employment to about 15 lakh people.

‘Attractions intact’

“Last year our tourist inflow grew 11 per cent, which was highest in nine years. We received 11 lakh foreign tourists and 1.46 crore domestic. This year was good in the first half. We may see some decline in tourists in the third quarter. But we hope to revive the sector in the fourth quarter,” said Bala Kiran on the sidelines of the Travel and Tourism Fair (TTF) in Ahmedabad adding that most of the tourist attractions in Kerala were intact. Most of the resorts and hotels are unaffected.

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