Kerala had always been considered the ‘backwaters’ of India - in a negative way. Tourists thought of it as a nice but far away place, to be visited if you had the time, after covering the more popular destinations like the Taj Mahal, Delhi, Jaipur and Goa. But all that has changed, with a single great campaign, based on a memorable line - God’s Own Country. As tourism marketers know, a tourist destination sells imagery first and then depends on the tourists themselves to recommend the destination to their friends, relatives and peer groups. For a long time, Kerala had advertised its boat races held at Allepey (now known as Alappuzha) and the elephant ritual at “Thrissur Pooram” and gained some mileage from these too. However, the advertising really started getting into the limelight after the tagline “God’s Own Country” was added to the beautiful images. In addition to the foreign tourists, the campaign successfully drew the attention of domestic tourists and as a result Kerala has successfully entered the tourist map of the world. New investments in Kerala include tourism – related projects at Bekal in the Malabar (North Kerala) region. Tangible things such as good air and road/rail connections and availability of different types of hotels and resorts also helped, along with cosmopolitan food habits of Kerala which is probably the only state apart from Goa where meat and seafood of all types are easily available, to cater to the palates of foreigners who may be predominantly non-vegetarian. Ayurveda practitioners also abound in Kerala and the oil massages add to the mystique of the destination. Apart from traditional hill stations like Munnar, Kerala offers a forest experience at Thekkady (Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary) and in the hills of Wayanad district bordering Tamilnadu and Karnataka.
Questions :
a) Develop a campaign for your own state / any other state in India, to attract foreign tourists.
b) Develop a similar campaign for domestic tourists.
