Sunday, September 4 2005 14:58 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kochi: With the World Tourism and Travel Council (WTTC) estimating that Kerala will witness a 11.6 per cent growth per annum in tourism in the next decade, the highest in any state, a major challenge facing God's own country is lack of adequate hotel accommodation for visitors.

As per WTTC estimates, Kerala is followed by Turkey with 10.2 per cent in terms of tourism growth.

International and domestic tourist arrivals to this tiny state, known for its virgin beaches, meandering backwaters and hill resorts, have swelled. About 3.53 lakh foreign tourists visited Kerala in 2004 against about 2.94 lakh in the previous year a growth of over 17 per cent.

Besides, about 62 lakh domestic travellers visited Kerala in 2004 against 58.7 lakh in 2003, a growth of 5.5 per cent.

But is the state ready to welcome all its guests?. Kerala does not have enough rooms and government is making all efforts to increase the room strength, according to Principal Secretary, Tourism, E K Bharat Bhushan.

Kerala Government has come up with a unique 'Vazhoyoram' project, which envisages providing wayside amenities to tourists. These are not top class hotels but would add upto 250 rooms in the next two years, Bhusan said.

Home stays and paying guest accommodations are other areas being thought of by Kerala tourism to augment its room strength.

According to Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the State Government should take immediate steps to increase the supply of hotel rooms, reduce luxury tax and review its taxpolicies.

Lack of enough hotel rooms was a major problem facing the Indian tourism industry, says Amitabh Kant, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism. India would need at least hundred thousand rooms in the next four years with the tourism boom expected.

The major bottleneck is in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, he said.