Kerala Tourism has launched a three-year long Continuous Tourist Survey 2017-20 (CTS). The survey is conducted in collaboration with Datamation Consultants, selected through a transparent tender process. The Government of India will provide financial assistance of Rs. 25 lakhs, for the survey.
During 2010-13, Kerala Tourism had conducted a similar Continuous Tourist Survey (CTS). One of the key findings of that survey was that a foreign tourist stays an average of 18 days in Kerala, while spending Rs. 81,000 on average.
CTS 17-20 is intended to study in depth the interest of tourists, their age and demographic details, reasons for visit and nature of tours undertaken. A mobile application will be used by the enumerators of Datamation Consultants to collect various details. The survey will cover not only tourist destinations but also hotels, house boats, home stays, ayurveda centers, restaurants, tour operators etc.
“Through the data obtained from the survey, the Tourism Department will evaluate the growth of tourism. The survey will provide us an accurate picture of tourists, likes and dislikes and help us to plan accordingly,” Kadakampally Surendran, Kerala Tourism Minister, said. He added that Kerala has been following a comprehensive tourism development plan to double the number of domestic tourist arrivals and increase foreign tourist arrivals by 50 per cent by 2021.
“With over 1 million foreign tourists and 13.1 million domestic tourist arrivals, Kerala has been witnessing tremendous growth in tourist traffic since the last couple of years. Kerala has now become a trendsetter in the Indian tourism industry and we will work to ensure that tourism continues to grow,” Venu.V, Principal Secretary, Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala said.
