Marketing God’s Own Country

Backwaters – Main draw for Tourists

Kerala is a marketing success story. The bigwigs of this state has not spared a single channel to spread the message “God’s Own Country” to the masses. One of the impressive propaganda about Kerala on Youtube, have influenced scores of potential westerners to this state. But, somehow the ground realities are far from the picturesque posters and advertising paraphernalia we see in digital and print brochures.

So, why is it loosing the race to become a tourist friendly destination. Here are my observations:

1) Broken infrastructure, unclean roads and lack of tourist help-desk
    ( Let me elaborate – Let me take you to a trip to Kovalam. People boarding bus to Kovalam often catch bus from the East Fort bus stop. During season time, we see many domestic travelers and foreigners who wait for the bus. First thing you notice is dirt in around the bus stop. The roof is broken at many places and when it rains the surrounding areas are just black slush. One more thing, there’s no public loo in the vicinity. I once had to visit the corporation toilet in East Fort which is one of the dirtiest open loo in this locality.

Solution: Employ a person as a tourist facilitator in this bus stand. He should be given a small booth. And he or she should be able to speak Hindi and English. You can also hire Russians or Germans is man the booth for some time. It will be good experience to propagate and explain the facilities in their language. As a compliment, give them a day’s stay in the Govt Guest House in Kovalam. All the help desk people should go a mandatory training so that they can answer most of the questions asked by tourists.

2) Nonexistent Night Life

    Look at Goa – ever youthful place, buzzing with young people, indulging in all forms of youthful quest. Parties, night clubs, discos, eating joints, etc lure young people to this place. Kerala fails very badly on this index. Moreover, public in Kerala have resentment towards night clubs or discos and beer. A youngster who visits Goa with the friends is less likely to enjoy the same kind of fun and revelry in Kerala.

Solution: Create a demarcated place in Kovalam area which is meant for carnival. It has to be well planned, with all the frills of a part spot like Ibiza in Spain. But, the question is do we have the will to create a spot like that. I’m afraid the answer would be NO.

3) Liquor Ban and Drama

  We know how bad, unclean and unorganized are the liquor outlets in Kerala. On top of it there are crazy rules like, first of every month is dry day, then bars close the shutters by 10:PM. The liquor licence is so expensive that only people who are filthy rich or abkari chaps can bid. This keeps a small business out of the race. What a shame? The so called 100% literate state is acting in a very regressive manner. Most of the policies chalked out are just out of someone’s gut instinct. No research, no study, no plan. If things so, we’ll see more brain drain too happening in Kerala.

Solution: First, throw the existing liquor policy in the gutter. Make a policy which is done with planning, foresight and a vision on the future.Give beer license for shacks at a lower rate. Even with no license, you can easily get beer in most outlets. All the shacks do is sell beer in ceramic glasses. Funny!!! Who are these people trying to fool – you, me or the administration. It’s evident that these guys will be paying a big money as bribe. The question again is – who get’s it. Who benefits. I’m sure it’s not the common man.