Arihant Kuhar

Since the end of the last World War, both domestic and international tourism has grown very rapidly in Kerala. It registered an impressive average growth rate during 1960-70 and 1970-80. It was estimated that 16 countries produced over 82 percent of the total international tourist arrivals in 1977 and this pattern is now generally valid for other years. Countries with a beachfront emerged as the major revenue earners due to the popularity of beach tourism. In Kerala beaches other than Kovalam were unknown to the outside world and thus the state could showcase only one destination before the international tourist.

Perhaps, the trend in visiting beaches for sun, sand and sea may continue into the future also. A breakdown for the five years (1977 – 81) in the 12 developed countries, which contributed 65 percent of the total international tourist arrivals, may offer a clearer picture of the pattern of international tourist movements. In Europe, Italy accounted for a major share of tourism income mainly due to its sub tropical climate during certain parts of the year.

When analyzing the information about the principal tourist generating markets of the world, it can be seen that out of the twelve countries, the USA and West Germany predominated as producers of regional tourism. The USA not only generated major inter-regional movements, but also contributed immensely towards international tourist traffic. France generated more international tourist traffic than West Germany, even though the latter sent out more than double the number of tourists to the former. If the above figures are related to the populations of these countries, we could obtain what is known as the co-efficient of ‘propensity to travel’.

Apparently the US and Canadian populations have the highest propensity to travel internationally. The rapid increase in tourism in these countries could be the outcome of prosperity due to better economic conditions and higher standards of living leading to increased leisure, improved education and above all the rapid strides in speedy transport and communication facilities.