The Digital Signature

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) plays an important role in the tourism industry and has made changes in the way it interacts with its customers by facilitating real-time access to information from anywhere in the world.

The application of ICT could be seen in various areas like reservation systems, transportation sector, accommodation sector, enhancement of tourist experience, destination management as well as steps towards implementing sustainable tourism. The current decade has witnessed the development of more novel technologies in ICT like Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Voice Technology, Wearable Technology, Mobile Apps, Big Data Analytics, Blockchain Technology etc. The tourism industry has capitalized on it to improve its operational efficiencies and to meet the demands of the customers.

Kerala Tourism has been effectively using ICT for the tourism business for the last two decades since it launched its official website www.keralatourism.org in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) plays an important role in the tourism industry and has made changes in the way it interacts with its customers by facilitating real-time access to information from anywhere in the world. Saroop Roy B.R. Assistant Professor& Co-ordinator, Centre for Responsible Tourism, Kerala Institute of Tourism and Travel Studies The Digital Signature 1998. The website has earned one of the top positions in the tourism sector surpassing the Incredible India website of India tourism and that of many other state tourism departments. Analytics of the website in March 2022 reveals that it ranks 120153 globally, 7757 in India and 47 in the Travel and Tourism sector in India. The total visits to the page were 541.5K and the average duration of the visit was 1 minute and 54 seconds in March 2022. The search engine optimisation for the website is so good that it comes second in google search results if one searches for Kerala. The webpage is currently available in 11 foreign languages and 9 regional languages making it more accessible to users.

Kerala Tourism has effectively used social media for its promotional purpose with its Facebook Page, Twitter and Instagram pages having 4.30M, 1.9M and 464K followers respectively. The Facebook page of Kerala Tourism holds the most liked tourism page in South Asia since 2019 and currently ranks second position in Asia after the Visit Dubai page. The YouTube channel launched on 6th May 2007 is flooded with promotional videos and has currently 280K subscribers and views of more than 11 crores.

Kerala Tourism has closely followed the recent technological advances in the information and communication sector and adopted them for its promotional aspects as well as for easy guiding of tourists.

The Quick Response (QR) Code Aided Tourism Search introduced in 2015 by Kerala Tourism optimised the interactive feature of the website and made it easier for travellers to scan and spot destinations and related information on the official website.

The Virtual Reality applications have helped in creating 360°virtual tours of the tourist attractions in Kerala for the potential visitors to learn more about how to prepare for the next visit to Kerala using a mobile phone, desktop and Virtual Reality Headset.

The Augmented Reality videos have brought to life some of the most picturesque visuals from the state that would help to gain a better idea of the natural and manmade wonders that adorn our landscape. The Augmented Reality supported Mobile app ‘Muziris Virtual Tour Guide,’ is a personal guide for the tourists visiting Muziris.

The recently launched Whatsapp chatbot, ‘Maya’ acts is a virtual assistant to travellers who need information and assistance about destinations, products, facilities, etc. as text or voice messages.

While flourishing tourism itself ensures an overall improvement in addition to infrastructure, it is also a key aspect of successfully developing destinations that will draw tourists from around the globe. In addition, tourism will eventually encourage investments which will in turn help in the value addition and up scaling of the locality as well. Thereby it can be said that tourism infrastructure is an enabler for overall economic and infrastructure development.

Tourism infrastructure is a broad category that includes accommodation, event venues, parks facilities, dining and entertainment precincts; cultural and arts amenities, transport networks and interchanges; aviation, maritime and road infrastructure, and more. There are certain aspects that need to be given special attention in order to ensure a seamless experience for the visitors.

Since tourism mostly deals with the experiences one gains from travel destinations, the core idea is to identify tourism projects, areas of investment, and types of investments, etc, to develop the destination. Tourism Infrastructure will have to cater to destination development and maintenance as well as experience building for the visitors. This can be achieved by facilitating smooth travel options, better accessibility, and promotion of tourism products like Kettuvallam, Caravans, Uru, etc., that can deliver an assortment of experiences to the visitors.

The future of tourism in Kerala will be marked by a newly devised scheme to enhance the existing entities by taking advantage of the linear structure of Kerala. To achieve this, the various visual corridors of Kerala will be delineated, focusing on the existing north-south movement networks primarily facilitated by the linear structure of the state. Visual corridors will be designed with state-of-the-art facilities that provide unique experiences to tourists. The corridors will be focusing on different aspects like the coastline, water bodies, cultural heritage, built heritage, etc.

Coastal Highway Corridor, National/State Highway Corridor, Rail Corridor, Water Corridor (Canal, Lake etc.), Hill Way Corridor, etc., are some of the proposed corridors. These corridors will run parallel in the north-south direction with intermittent tourism nodes connecting laterally in the eastwest direction. These nodes will include tourism facilitation services like amenity centres, interpretation centres, fuel stations, motels, etc., which will act as tourism hubs. This sort of approach would work in favour of the state as it has a lot of untouched potential and prospects that are waiting to be discovered. Since this mode promotes an exploratory approach, it is imperative that more opportunities are identified and taken advantage successfully.