Alappuzha, Saturday 22 August 2009: The survey conducted by the State Tourism Department has revealed that there was -18.8 percent fall in foreign tourist arrival in Kerala in 2009 from January to March as compared to the same period in 2008.

According to the survey, Kerala saw a growth of 3.21 percent in the domestic tourist arrivals this year from January to March.

The survey was conducted by the State Tourism Department in association with the Kerala Economics and Statistics Department from January 2009 to March for collecting the details of the number of tourists who visited various tourism destinations here. The economic downturn was said to be the main cause for the decrease in the number of foreign tourists.

The outbreak of H1N1 has also started to affect the arrival of tourists, they said.As per the survey reports, 2,34,209 foreign tourists called at various tourism destinations in the state last year,while in current year only 1,90,041 foreign tourists arrived.

Alappuzha district has registered 19.2 percent fall in the arrival of foreign holidaymakers this year. In 2009, 18,70,696 domestic holidaymakers visited the State while it was only 18,12,490 during last year.

However, as per the survey report, Ernakulum district has registered a growth of 1.97 percent in foreign tourists’ arrival in 2009 compared to 2008. During previous year, 66,957 holidaymakers had arrived Ernakulam from abroad while in 2009, 68,275 foreign tourists arrived.The arrival of domestic tourists was also very high in Ernakulam.
Kasargod and Wayanad districts too saw rise in tourists’ arrivals from abroad in 2009.

The arrival of foreign tourists in Alappuzha, Thiruvananthapuram and Idukki districts went down compared to previous year. However the arrival of domestic tourists went up in Alappuzha, Kottayam and Wayanad districts and came down in Kasargod and Thiruvanathapuram districts.