Kerala, a tiny state of India, is one of the most preferred destinations of tourists. According to a report, in a span of two months – from July 5 to September 5, 2016 – 55,000 to 60,000 Arabs have landed in the three airports of Kerala. Kerala Tourism Statistics Report says, Foreign Tourist arrival to Kerala during the year 2016 was 10,38,419. It showed an increase of 6.23% over the previous year’s figure of 9,77,479. Domestic Tourist arrival to Kerala during the year 2016 was 1,31,72,535. It showed an increase of 5.67 % over the previous year’s figure 1,24,65,571.
Why so many tourists from Europe, America, Africa, and Asia visit Kerala every year. The reasons can be many. In my view, the important reasons for high inflow of tourists to Kerala are the following:
(1) Beauty of this amazing patch on earth is most important reason. Presence of green mountains, beaches, lakes, rivers, streams, waterfalls, valleys, forests and plantations can be a very important reason for tourist inflow to Kerala
(2) Culture of the inhabitants can be another important factor which attracts tourists to Kerala. Personally, I don’t consider Keralites as the most civilized people living on this planet. Yet I observe some very important qualities for Keralites. Cleanliness is a very important quality almost every Keralite keeps. Most of the Keralites take bath every morning. Water is not a scarce commodity for majority of Keralites. Of course, in some parts of Kerala, people wait for collecting drinking water from pipes of Kerala Water Authority. Hindus, Christians and Muslims live harmoniously in Kerala. They have been living together since centuries.
(3)Unlike in other parts of India, most of the Keralites speak and write one Language – Malayalam. Language binds them together. Majority of Kerala households subscribe one or two Malayalam Newspapers. Most the shop-owners also subscribe daily newspapers. People of different religions and political affiliations read those newspapers almost every day. This habit helps them to understand viewpoint of others. Millions of Keralites work abroad which help them to familiarize with cultures of various other nationalities.
(4) Presence of many dependable, professional travel agencies.