Ernakulam: The escalating tension between Israel and Iran as turned out to be a huge deterrent to Kerala Tourism, which was expecting a surge in foreign tourist arrivals this season.
“Many services have been cancelled this time around due to the current tensions prevailing. We were expecting a better season this year. It’s a huge loss for the cruise tourism industry. The cruise operators are exploring safer destinations and avoiding South Asia,” said a senior official at a tour operating company specializing in shore excursions for tourists in Kochi and UAE.
The tourism industry is very apprehensive of the ongoing season, as a prolonged war would lead to cancellations from Arab countries as well. Kerala is one of the most preferred destinations of Israel tourists and tour operators are busy cancelling and postponing bookings.
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In 2023, the decision of the UK government to issue travel advisories against transiting through the UAE have sparked concerns among the tourism stakeholders as a majority of international tourists flying to Kerala come via UAE.
In 2023, 45 cruise ships docked at Kochi. According to stakeholders in the shipping industry, the cancellations this year are higher and they expect only 12 to 14 cruise ships this season.
With military activity growing in the Red Sea region, the cruise tourism industry is already feeling the heat with many cruise line operators cancelling arrivals to Kerala.
This year, the tourism department is expecting around 8 lakh foreign tourists and 2.20 crore domestic tourists. In 2023, Kerala received around 6.49 lakh foreign tourists. The top eleven countries were the USA, UK, Oman, France, Maldives, Germany, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Australia and Russia.
According to shipping industry experts, around 20-25% of foreign tourists visiting Kerala are from Israel.
The tourism industry is very apprehensive of the ongoing season, as a prolonged war would lead to cancellations from Arab countries as well. Kerala is one of the most preferred destinations of Israel tourists and tour operators are busy cancelling and postponing bookings.
Confederation of Kerala Tourism Industry president E M Najeeb said if the airfare goes up exponentially, the tourism industry will naturally be affected.
“The situation continues to evolve and our season will begin in October-November. The domestic tourism hasn’t been hit and we have to wait and see how the war situation impacts the oil prices and airfare,” he said.
