The Coquette And The Coy

Welcome to God's Own Country. Strange that a Marxist state should invoke a God it doesn't believe in, but it's the mantra that has attracted 45 lakh domestic and nearly 2 lakh foreign tourists into the state this year—a 250 per cent increase, mainly in domestic tourists, from 1994.

Clearly, Kerala tourism is a state of mind. The reason why Swisswoman Thekla Walser sits with Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things at Somatheeram resort even as she soaks in the very setting she's reading about. A quaint bookstore outside Kochi's synagogue declares: "Now available: The God of Small Things", inviting curious tourists to browse through. Roy didn't bring Mrs Suman Aggarwal, wife of a Gujarati exporter, to Kerala; it just happened to be on the family's way to the Maldives.

It's also about the Keralite finding a new way to do business in a state that's had a limited brush with industry. Hence the Malayali's attempt to harness all disability into a tourist advantage. No lights, no water? Welcome to 16th Century Kerala, proclaims a one-room 'resort' owner. Bored of their respective professions, filmmaker Gopal and his receptionist wife took to tourism, turned their modest home into an 'ayurvedic' centre. Tourism again brought Shabeer all the way from Srinagar—"We go where the tourist goes"—to open up a curios shop on the Kovalam beachfront. Who cares about locals brandishing slogans saying—"Kovalam Kashmiri terrorist go away"?

By contrast, industry seems to have overshadowed the tourist sensibility of India's other Communist state—West Bengal—though the Bengali epitomises The Great Indian Traveller. While Kerala flashes images of lush palms, the backwaters and beaches, of a vibrant, living culture; West Bengal's is the picture of poverty and unrest, of a cultural tradition overtaken by sloth. Expectedly, consultants Tourism Futures noted in a 1990 study commissioned by the Department of Tourism: "Both domestic and foreign travellers show a preference for Kerala. The state has a strong 'pre-image' in the tourist's mind. That's only confirmed after a visit to the state." A fact reflected in the tourist portfolio of agencies like Sita Travels. Says Arjun Sharma, MD (sales & marketing): "Kerala is our major destination for leisure travel. While 50 per cent of our room nights go to Kerala, West Bengal doesn't generate even 10 per cent of that business."

Yet in terms of tourism assets, West Bengal is as rich as Kerala. If the latter has its Periyar sanctuary, West Bengal's wildcard is perhaps greater: the Sunderbans. If the backwaters are one's passport to tourist paradise, the Hooghly presents an equally scenic vista along the former colonial settlements of Plassey, Murshidabad and Chandannagore.

Besides, Calcutta remains India's cultural capital. Tagore's legacy lives on in Santiniketan; Calcutta boasts a unique club culture with the Royal Calcutta Golf Club, Royal Calcutta Turf Club; it has a rich sporting tradition, only too evident in its hockey and football clubs and, of course, the Eden Gardens. And then there's the metro.

What then does Kerala have that Bengal doesn't? "Political will," says Kerala secretary for tourism, Jose Cyriac. Kerala declared tourism an industry in 1986; Bengal has taken a decade more to wake up to its potential. Today, Kerala allocates Rs 36 crore of its budget to tourism; tourism certainly isn't the priority with the Bengal government which allocates it only 0.4 per cent (Rs 3 crore) of its budget. Kerala has a healthy Rs 3 crore adspend and was also the first to engage admen HTA to create their tourist identity—subsequently flashed at international fairs like London's World Trade Mart, the ITB in Berlin, the Arabian Travel Mart.

Kerala's success is also its state policy—to put infrastructure before tourism. Despite being smaller in area than West Bengal, the state has a 1.36 lakh km length of roads compared to Bengal's 61,694 km. It's tourism prospects will also brighten with the opening of the Konkan Railway and the doubling of the Mangalore-Guruvayur line. Again, while Bengal's Dum Dum airport allows no charter flights to land there, Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram international airport used to receive at least three charter flights every season. Says Dr G. Raveendran, deputy DG, tourism: "The state's distinctive advantage is its airports—three within 450 km distance. Another international airport is coming up at Kochi." Adds Subhash Goyal, president, Indian Association of Tour Operators: "Bureaucratic attitudes and red tapism undo the advantages of Dum Dum."

In terms of hotel infrastructure, Calcutta alone boasts 1,570 rooms in comparison to Kerala's 3,000, but while Calcutta's low-segment hotels have only 60 per cent seasonal occupancy—even less in five-star deluxe hotels—Kerala boasts cent per cent seasonal occupancy. KTDC's own network of hotels compare favourably with those in the private sector, both in terms of service and tariff. "Of the 80-odd properties owned by KTDC, only about three are making losses, all others are making a profit," declares KTDC MD, Dr A. Jayathilak, as he flaunts their net income of Rs 35.38 crore in 1996-97. West Bengal Tourist Development Corporation's properties are the horror stories one hears about; its turnover for 1996-97 Rs 10 crore.

Kerala was also the first state to enter areas entrepreneurs feared to tread. Remarkably, says Raveendran, "a Communist state successfully implemented privatisation of state projects". The Rs 9.6 crore Bekal project is one such example. The other is the joint venture participation of KTDC and subsidiary Tourism Resorts Kerala Ltd with the Taj group. Says Goyal: "There's faster government approval for projects, greater tax ben-efits." Kerala also took the lead in shedding its inhibitions about being everything to all people and catering heavily to the upper-segment, high-spending tourist.

PRIVATE initiative too has been quick to follow. Take visionary hotelier Jose Dominic. All his properties are little,lush marvels in ethnic retro chic—whether it's the Coconut Lagoon perched on the Vembanad Lake or the landscaped Spice Village in Thekkady. "The luxury isn't the hotel, it's nature," he says. Little wonder, international travel magazine Conde Nast Traveller lists Coconut Lagoon among the world's 25 Great Escapes.

Yet, innovation hasn't been the preserve of Dominic alone. Entrepreneur Babu Ver-ghese was the first to introduce backwater cruises on thatched kettuvalloms (houseboats). He has also developed a treehouse resort in Vythiri, nestled within the Wyanad hills where the apartments are located 86 ft above ground level, and can only be reached through a cane elevator worked with a unique counterweight of water.

Kerala has also been able to involve local bodies to develop the life-seeing aspect of tourism. Says Raveendran: "There has been tremendous devolution of power to local bodies; each panchayat has its own budget." Which the District Promotion Councils spend on providing houseboat cruises or ayurvedic cures.

 Given these efforts, tourist arrivals in Kerala jumped from 1,388,943 travellers in 1994 to 4,429,226 in 1996. An example Bengal will do well to emulate since its tourist arrivals have been constant—from 4,494,380 travellers in 1994 to 4,632,268 in 1996.The state is already making an effort. As a first step it has made Rajiv Gujral, vice-president (eastern region) of the Indian Hotels Company and with the Taj Group for 25 years, chairman of WBTDC. Says Gujral: "For the first time, the government seems serious." HTA are set to do a Kerala for Bengal in terms of publicity; the state government made a first-time presence last year at the World Travel Mart. The state allocation for tourism remains meagre, but there is a willingness to improve existing assets. Among a major forthcoming project is the Rs 33 crore tourism development plan for the Sunderbans for which Tata Consultancy Services have been retained as advisors.

 Bengal's intentions seem honest. And given the present level of tourism activity, its tourism secretary Jayanto Sanyal prophesies: "Whatever we do will be a giant leap forward". A leap that's crucial given tourism's growing importance in world economies. Employing 18.4 million people (24 per cent of the total labour force); generating $440 billion international revenue. For Kerala, if IDBI general manager P. Ojha's predictions come true, tourism would mean a 6 per cent increase in per capita income given a Rs 500-crore tourism-related investment in the next five years. Cent per cent literacy, a high-quality of life and now at least a partial solution for chronic joblessness. God's Own Country? En route, surely.