KOCHI: Enhancing its appeal, Kochi is opening its arms to West Asian tourists like never before. Major resorts and hotels in the city assert that there has been a steep increase in the number of tourists from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE. “In July alone, 99 per cent of the guests at our resort were from the Gulf countries,” said an employee at a luxury resort in Kumbalam. “Although their stay was comparatively shorter due to the early arrival of Ramadan, their numbers have definitely increased,” he added. An employee at another luxury hotel in the city noted, “There were 223 Arab guests in our hotel in July. They all left for Ramadan. But we expect another wave of Arab tourists during Onam.” Tour operators in the city support the claim. “Earlier, only high-end tourists arrived from the middle-east. But in recent times the number of upper-middle class families has gone up drastically. Maybe that explains the sudden increase,” said C P Ajithkumar, president of the Travel Operators Association of Kerala. The major attractions for Arab tourists in Kochi are the many ayurvedic health centres cropping up in the city along with the infrastructural facilities available here. “For foreign tourists, Kochi is a crisp gist of the entire Kerala. They can enjoy the serene beauty of the backwaters and travel through historical sites here, while being just a few kilometres away from a bustling city. This way, they don’t get bored by the quietness of the countryside. In previous years, only western tourists seemed to be aware of this. Now, West Asia is catching up too,” said a luxury resort owner. “Owing to a steady trickle of Arab tourists, we have not been hit by the off-season lull,” said an employee at a luxury hotel chain in the city.
Comments
0 comment