Assessment of Kerala Tourism Industry-An Economic Perspective

: The paper throws a light on the status of tourism sector of Kerala, and as a major source of economic development contributor. It is positioned as ‘God’s Own Country’ by the Department of Tourism. Every year’s millions of people are attracted by the State due to its beautiful beaches, hills stations, backwater cannels, tea gardens, ethereal waterfalls, wildlife sanctuaries, festivals and friendly people. Kerala is one of the most popular destinations for both national and international tourists in India. September to March is the ideal time for visiting the state. Kochi City, Munnar, Thiruvananthapuram, Wayanad, and Guruvayoor are popular destinations of tourists. Foreign exchange earnings from the tourism sector have been in the increasing trend since last decade, except the duration of the covid effect. It is observed that the tourism sector is vital for the economy of Kerala and the initiatives taken by the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation would go a long way facilitating the development of the state. A study has been conducted to know and understand the current status of both domestic and international tourism vis-à-vis pre and post covid scenario. Simple average, percentage, and ranks are used to present and analyse the data for common understanding of the objectives. Advanced regression statistics like R square value analysis and correlation analysis is used to draw statistical inferences in the study. The authors in this paper genuinely feel that, the Hypotheses Test Results are expected to throw further light upon the utility of the study to the Academicians, Researchers, Policy Makers, and Industry Personnel as various means of Business Development and Socio Economic Contribution.


I. Introduction
Kerala has the highest literacy rate of the country and people are well-aware about the importance of the tourism sector for the development of the state (Kim et. al., 2006).Kerala is a well-known tourist destination in Southern India.Kerala is located along the Western Ghats which is the UNESCO World Heritage Site (Balaguer, & Cantavella, 2002).Notably, it is one of thirty-six biodiversity hotspots of the world.It has many unique tourist places (O'Hagan, & Harrison, 1984).Kerala Tourism Development Corporation is the government organization for promoting the tourism sector.It has introduced various aggressive marketing campaigns to attract more tourists in the state (Kunwar et. al., 2022).Kerala had welcomed approximately 1.88 crore domestic tourist in 2022.Idukki, Kasaragod, Malappuram, and Pathanamthitta districts have many popular tourist destinations (Assadzadeh, & Nasab, 2012).
The Festivals of Kerala also attract many religious tourists.Onam is the major festival.Popular other festivals are Chettikulangara Bharani, Beema Palli Uroos, Attukal Pongala, Thrissur Pooram etc. (Pushpalatha, 2020).Christmas and Easter are the vital festival of the Christian communities.Kerala is also popular for religious places.Kottakkavu church, Cheraman Mosque, St. Mary's Forane (Martha Mariam) church are some well-known places (Raghavan, 2005).Tourism industry of the state is badly affected by the corona pandemic, but post-corona recovery of the sector is also well noticeable.People of the State are very friendly and always treats tourist as their family members (Shrestha, & Parajuli, 2020).

II.
Literature Reviews Edward and George (2008) in their report found that tourism is an important sector for the economy of Kerala.It has positive effects on the employment and economic growth of the state.It is counted as an important alternative to address unemployment.Kerala tourism model is now accepting by the other states of India. Anshaj and Gnanadhas (2012) discusses the level of tourist satisfaction regarding tourism-related facilities in the Trivandrum district and studies the growth of the tourism industry in Kerala.Kerala is the first state to declare tourism as an industry in India Haseena (2014) found that Kerala with its wide range of unique tourism products offers excellent opportunities for tourists.The Western Ghats of Kerala, with its tropical forest ecosystem, provides a natural advantage for development of Ecotourism.Bozorgaghideh and Beegam (2014) shows the vital role of tourism in effectively tackling the root causes of poverty, inequality and problems of environmental degradation and climate change in the context of globalization.
Yamuna (2016) in his report suggested that Ayurveda, the ancient Indian system of medicine and Panchakarma, the rejuvenation therapy in Ayurveda helped Kerala to gain a pan-global reputation as a worthvisit destination.Ezreth (2019) found that Kerala state in tourism development achieves much progress.
Tourism provide large employment opportunities to the community directly and indirectly.Tourism is the inevitable part in a developing country like India.Accordingly, Pushpalatha (2020), Kerala is prominent destination in India for the foreign tourists.Ayurveda and Panchakarma have also helped Kerala to gain a global reputation as a worth-visit destination.Tourism in Kerala provides a number of economic benefits.Devi (2020) found that government is trying really hard to break the traditional tourism circuit of Kerala, which is majorly connecting Cochin to eastern districts and the southern districts of the state and to add unexplored destinations of Malabar or the northern regions.
Thanikkad and Shanimon (2021) found that Kerala is a global brand in the field of tourism.Tourism is a vibrant and significant contributor to the sustainable development of Kerala.The state offers the world class, and local visitor experience.The tourism sector attracts investment, which makes it more sensitive to the natural environment.Archana (2021) in his report concluded that Kerala tourism is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world.It is famous especially for its eco-tourism initiatives and beautiful backwaters.
Measures should be reserved to categorize the growth prospects and Government should work on improvising on weak but prospective areas.Sudheer (2021) initiated that backwater is one of the major tourism products.
Traditionally used as one of the main transportation alleys, today backwaters offer a rejuvenating experience for tourists visiting Kerala.
Thomas (2023) suggested that Kerala is currently benefitting from the Sri Lankan crisis.Kerala is a major rival to Sri Lanka in terms of tourism.Both Sri Lanka and Kerala has similar climate, landscape, food cuisine, geography etc. Varma (2023) concludes that experiential tourism is a special kind of tourism where the traveller and his/her direct experiences.There is an opportunity for enrichment of cultural, social and emotional enrichment.The homestays in Kerala are concentrated in districts where there are a lot of destination attractions.John et. al. (2023) identified that destination safety and quality' has the highest impact on the tourism destination competitiveness of Kerala.The work reinforces the notion that a destination's general and tourism-specific infrastructure adds to its attractiveness and is an essential component of its competitiveness.
From the above analysis, it is observed that majority of reports discussed the growth, status, prospects, and challenges of the tourism sector of Kerala, where only a few studies have examined economic perspectives of tourism sector of Kerala.Therefore, we have chosen the said topic.

III. Objectives of the Study
With the introduction to the study, further it has been progressed keeping in view the following objectives which are stated hereunder: 1. To know and understand the current status of both domestic and international tourism vis-à-vis pre and post covid scenario.
2. To compare and contrast whether there is any adverse effect of covid on the domestic and international tourism in the state of Kerala.
3. To know the tourist footfall and pattern in all the 14 declared revenue districts of the Kerala State.
4. To find out whether there is any peak or non-peak seasons of visits by both domestic and international tourists to all the 14 districts of the state.Further to know whether there is a variation in the percentage of domestic and international tourist's arrival pattern in the state of Kerala.
5. To understand and analyse the pattern of the footfall distribution by domestic tourist to Kerala by State of origin of the visitors in India, and 6.To know whether there is any contribution and relation to the Gross Domestic Product of the Kerala State both by domestic and international tourists by volume and by numbers also.

IV. Hypotheses of the Study:
Based on the objectives as defined above, following set of hypotheses has been formed in order to have a systematic approach to the present paper.These are defined as follows: H 10 : Foreign Tourists do not visit all the 14 districts of Kerala State.
H 1a : Foreign Tourists visit all the 14 districts of Kerala State.
H 20 : There is no variation in the percentage of domestic and international tourist's arrival pattern in the state of Kerala and there does not exists any peak or non-peak months of visit by domestic or international tourists.
H 2a : There is a variation in the percentage of domestic and international tourist's arrival pattern in the peak or non-peak months of visit for the state of Kerala.
H 30 : There is no percentage of variation in the distribution of domestic tourist visits in Kerala by State of origin of India.
H 3a : There exists percentage of variation in the distribution of domestic tourist visits in Kerala by State of origin of India.
H 40 : There is no relationship between the numbers of tourists' inflow to the Gross Domestic Product of Kerala.
H 4a : There is relationship between the numbers of tourists' inflow to the Gross Domestic Product of Kerala.
H 50 : Foreign Tourists do not contribute to the GDP (GSDP-Gross State Domestic Product) of Kerala.
H 5a : Foreign Tourists do contribute to the GDP (GSDP-Gross State Domestic Product) of Kerala.
H 60 : There is no overall adverse effect of corona pandemic on Kerala Tourism, and H 6a : There is overall adverse effect of corona pandemic on Kerala Tourism Additionally, the post COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated the challenges.As a result, the state has been trying to have resilience to readjust its economic strategy to counter act the adverse effects.
Furthermore, the economic crisis in the Gulf countries and the subsequent decline in remittance inflows have also had an impact on Kerala's economy.

Results on Hypothesis-1:
So, foreign tourists are visited in all districts of the state.Hence, the Null Hypothesis 1 is rejected and Alternate Hypothesis accepted that, foreign tourists visited in all the 14 districts of Kerala State.The above table (3) discussed the trends in domestic and foreign tourist arrivals into Kerala.It has been found that number of tourist increased continuously in the state, but drastically declined since 2020 due to the covid pandemic.Number of foreign tourist was fallen 6.96 percent in 2009 compared to 2008 and was declined 71.36 percent in 2020, and also 82.25 percent in 2021.Number of domestic tourist was declined 72.86 percent in 2020 compared to the previous year.The above table (4) describes destination-wise domestic tourist arrival in Kerala.In 2020, more number of tourist are arrived in Kochi City, Guruvayoor, Thiruvananthapuram, Munnar, Kozhikode City and Wayanad.
On the other hand, less number of tourist are arrived in Kalady, Aluva, Parassinikkadavu, and Kollam.In 2021, more number of tourist are arrived in Kochi City, Munnar, Thiruvananthapuram, Wayanad, and Guruvayoor.
On the other hand, less number of tourist are arrived in Aluva, Kalady, Parassinikkadavu, and Kumarakom.
Highest number of tourist arrived in Kochi City consecutively the two years.
Ernakulam district is more ahead in tourist arrivals followed by Thiruvananthapuram, Idukki, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Alappuzha, Malappuram district etc. October to January are the peak time for tourist arrival.On the other hand, April to July is considered as the off period.Number of tourist increased continuously in the state, but drastically declined since 2020 due to the covid pandemic.Kochi City, Munnar, Thiruvananthapuram, Wayanad, and Guruvayoor are more popular among the tourists.

Results on Hypothesis-2:
So, October to January, and April to July are respectively the peak period and off-period for tourist arrival.Number of tourist visits in popular destinations are also varies.Hence, the Null Hypothesis 2 is rejected and Alternate Hypothesis accepted that, there is a variation in the percentage of domestic and international tourist's arrival pattern in the peak or non-peak months of visit for the state of Kerala.The above table (5) discussed the distribution of domestic tourist visits in Kerala by State of Origin of India.It has been found that contribution of states in domestic tourist arrivals in Kerala is not same.Tamil Nadu contributed the highest number of domestic tourist in Kerala, followed by the Karnataka, and Maharashtra.On the other hand, Bihar contributed the least number in domestic tourist in Kerala, preceded by the Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh.

Results on Hypothesis-3:
Hence the Null Hypothesis 3 is rejected and Alternate Hypothesis accepted that, there exists percentage of variation in the distribution of domestic tourist visits in Kerala by State of origin of India.The above table (7) depicted the relation between gross domestic product and the tourist inflow.It has been found that there is positive relation between the gross domestic product and the tourist inflow.Both the gross domestic product and tourist inflow in the state is increasing during the period.

Results on Hypothesis-4:
From the above discussion it is observed that the Null Hypothesis to be discarded and Alternative Hypothesis to be accepted that, there is relationship between the numbers of tourists' inflow to the Gross Domestic Product of Kerala.

Results on Hypothesis-5:
The high R Square value (0.956) indicated that there is relationship between the numbers of tourists' inflow to the gross domestic product of Kerala.So the relevant Null Hypothesis is rejected and the Alternative Hypothesis is accepted that the Tourist inflow (Foreign Tourists) do contribute to the GDP (GSDP-Gross State Domestic Product) of Kerala


Sources of Data Collection: The present study is based on the secondary data.The data has been collected from different reports of the Department of Tourism, Govt. of Kerala, Kerala Tourism Statistics, Kerala Tourism Development Corporation, Economic Review Report of the State Planning Board, Government Initiatives and Policy Documents, Central Government Guidelines and Whitepapers etc. Various journals and books have also been referred in the present study.Nature of Study with Tools & Techniques used for Data Analysis: The study is descriptive by nature.The reliability of the study findings is purely dependent upon the validity of the secondary sources of data as there is no control on the data validation.The hypotheses have been framed keeping the objective as designed for the same.For the present study, the researcher has used correlation analysis to authenticate the hypotheses.Simple average, percentage, and ranks are used to present and analyse the data for common understanding of the objectives.Advanced regression statistics like R square value analysis and correlation analysis is used to draw statistical inferences as required.The text analysis has also been used.

Table 1 :
District wise Domestic and Foreign Tourist arrivals in Kerala during the year 2021.The above table (1) depicted the district-wise domestic and foreign tourist arrivals in Kerala.It has been found that foreign tourists are visited in all the 14 districts of the state, although numbers are varied.Highest number of tourist visited the Ernakulam district followed by Thiruvananthapuram, Idukki, and Wayanad districts.Least number of tourists are arrived in Pathanamthitta district, preceded by Kasaragod, Kottayam, and Palakkad districts (Ministry of Tourism, 2023).

Table 2 :
Month-wise Domestic and Foreign Tourist arrivals in Kerala during the year 2021The above table (2) illustrated month wise domestic and foreign tourist arrivals in Kerala.It has been found that October to January are the peak time for tourist arrival.On the other hand, April to July is considered as the off period.Highest number of tourist are arrived in December month, and on the other hand, lowest number of tourist arrived in month of May (Kerala e-Services Dashboard, 2023).

Table 3 :
Trends in Domestic & Foreign Tourist Arrivals into Kerala

Table 4 :
Destination-wise Domestic Tourist Arrival in Kerala

Table 5 :
Distribution of Domestic Tourist Visits in Kerala by State of Origin of India

Table 6 :
Earnings from Tourism Sector of KeralaTotal revenue generated from tourism sector is also increasing since 2008, but also badly affected due to the covid pandemic.Total revenue generated from tourism sector was Rs.13130 crores in 2008, and was reached Rs.45010 crores in 2019.The foreign exchange earning was Rs.3066.5 crores in 2008, and was reached Rs. 10271.06crores in 2019, but due to covid pandemic, it was only Rs. 461.5 crores in 2021.There is positive relation between the gross domestic product and the tourist inflow.

Table 7 :
Calculating Relation between Gross domestic product and the tourist inflow