Chapter Nine FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS Environment and tourism are closely related. Tourism cannot be promoted without attractive environment. In the context of tourism, environment not only means natural environment but also some other environmental factors. The other environmental factors which accelerate tourism are infrastructure, superstructure, and manmade, cultural, human, economic, social and political environment. Tourism product is composite in nature and includes everything a tourist sees, experiences, feels and purchases from the time he/she leaves home till he/she returns. Hence, it is the combination of different types of environments, a tourist experiences from a destination which provides different tourism products. In the present study, environmental impact on tourism industry implies the influence of environment on the development of tourism. It is related to the level of satisfaction of tourists on various tourism products of Kerala and their opinion which influence tourism development of the state. The study is based on the objectives that (1) To review the status of World tourism, Indian tourism and Kerala tourism in respect of tourist arrivals and tourism receipts at present, (2) To compare the revenue generated from domestic and foreign tourism in the state, (3) To identify the most favorable tourism region in the state among the South, Central and North Kerala, (4) To evaluate the relationship between environment and tourism in developing the tourism industry of the state, (5) To ascertain the factors that directly contributed to the development of the tourism industry of the state, (6) To identify the most attractive Primary tourism product of the state and (7) To evaluate the positive and negative impact of environment in developing the tourism industry of Kerala. 419
The study is based on the hypotheses that (1) The tourism industry in Kerala is fast developing in comparison with Indian tourism and World tourism in respect of tourist arrivals and tourism receipts, (2) Foreign tourism generates more income in the state compared to domestic tourism, (3) All regions of the state are equally favourable and potential for tourism development, (4) There is a strong relationship between environment and tourism in developing tourism industry in the state, (5) Geographical diversity and natural beauty are the main factors initiating the tourist to visit Kerala, (6) Beach tourism is the most attractive primary tourism product of the state, (7) Primary tourism products have positive impact on the tourism development of the state, (8) Natural environment products have positive impact on the tourism development of the state, (9) There is no significant difference in the level of satisfaction of domestic and foreign tourists related on manmade environment products, (10) There is no significant difference between domestic and foreign tourist in the attraction of cultural environment products, (11) Secondary tourism products have negative impact on the tourism development of the state (12) Infrastructure environment products have negative impact on the tourism development in the state, (13) Human environment products hinder tourism development of the state, (14) There is no significant difference in the level of satisfaction of tourist from different foreign countries on human environment products. The study is based on both primary and secondary data. Primary data was used to ascertain the factors that directly contributed to the development of tourism industry of the State and to identify the most attractive primary tourism product of the State. It was also used to evaluate the positive and negative impact of environment on tourist in developing the tourism industry of Kerala. Primary data was collected by deliberate sampling method. A sample of six hundred tourists was collected equally from both domestic and foreign tourists who visited the State during the year 2010. 420
Secondary data was used to review the status of World tourism, Indian tourism and Kerala tourism in respect of tourist arrivals and tourism receipts at present. It is also used to identify the most favourable tourism region in the State among the South, Central and North Kerala, to compare the revenue generated from domestic and foreign tourism in the State and to evaluate the relationship between environment and tourism in developing tourism industry of the State. Secondary data was collected from the published records of Govt. organizations, NGO s, books, journals, magazines, published and unpublished dissertations, websites etc. The analysis of secondary data covers a period of ten years from 2000 to 2009. To review the status of World tourism, Indian tourism and Kerala tourism in respect of tourist arrivals and tourism receipts at present, secondary data was analysed using compound annual growth rate. The analysis of the secondary data reveals that at the end of the study period (2009), the total international tourist arrival in the World is 880 million; out of which the majority of the tourist arrival (465 million) is in the European countries. The Asia & Pacific countries have 194 million; the American countries share is 132 million, Middle East 49 million and Africa 40 million. In the year 2009, the total receipt from World tourism is US$ 852 billion out of which major portion is occupied by the European countries (US$ 413 billion), the second position is possessed by Asia and Pacific (US$ 203.7 billion), the third is with the American countries (US$ 165.2 billion), the forth position is occupied by Middle East (US$ 41.2 billion) and the last position is occupied by the African countries (US$ 28.9 billion). In short, the majority of the international tourist arrivals and international tourism receipts are in the European countries and the least international tourist arrivals and receipts are registered in the African countries. The international tourist arrival in India at the end of the study period (2009) is 5.17 million and receipts from international tourism are 11.39 billion. Likewise, international tourist arrival in Kerala in 2009 is 557258 and 421
receipts from international tourism are Rs.2853.16 crores. The domestic tourist arrival is 7913537, income from domestic tourism is Rs 7122.18 crores and total earnings (direct & indirect) from tourism is Rs 13231 crores Comparison of World tourist arrivals in different regions of the World between 1950 and 2009 indicates that Asia and Pacific region achieved miraculous growth of 970 times, the American countries could achieve only 16.5 times growth during the same period. Comparison of World tourism receipts in different regions of the World between 1950 and 2009 indicates that Asia and Pacific region achieved miraculous growth of 1018.5 times, the American countries could achieve only 23.6 times growth during this period. It is also found that the Global Economic Crisis of 2008 negatively affected the tourist arrivals of all tourism regions except the Asia &Pacific regions. As far as Indian tourism is concerned, the growth rate of tourist arrivals and tourism receipts is much higher than World tourism during the period of study. The analysis also shows that the fluctuations seen in the World tourist arrivals and receipts also affected the Indian tourism in a lesser magnitude. In the year 2009, Tourist arrivals in Kerala have been increased by more than forty three times compared to 1980. The growth of domestic tourist arrival is found to be faster compared to foreign tourist arrival and the growth of foreign exchange earnings from tourism is very faster as compared to foreign exchange earnings from tourism in India. It is also seen that foreign tourist arrivals to Kerala are growing at higher rate compared to foreign tourist arrivals of India. In the year 2009, 10.91 per cent of the foreign tourists visiting India are also visiting Kerala. However it is to be noted that the State of Kerala has only 1.18 per cent of total land mass of India. Hence it can be said that the density of foreign tourists is 9.25 times higher than that of India (other states of India). This is due to geographical diversity of the State which makes it to be hailed as God s own country. From the above results of analysis support the hypothesis that the tourism industry in Kerala is fast 422
developing in comparison with Indian tourism and World tourism in respect of tourist arrivals and tourism receipts. To compare the revenue generated from domestic and foreign tourism in the State, average income from domestic and foreign tourism between 2000 and 2009 were analysed. The average income from domestic tourism is found to be 73.71 per cent and average income from foreign tourism is 26.69 per cent. The result of the study reveals that income from domestic tourism is on an average of about three times greater than income from foreign tourism and therefore, the hypothesis that foreign tourism generates more income in the State compared to domestic tourism is rejected To identify the most favorable tourism region in the State among the South, Central and North Kerala the average tourist arrivals during the period of study was analysed. The analysis shows that the highest annual average tourist arrivals during the period of ten years from 2000 to 2009 is in Central Kerala (average = 33, 63,434) and lowest arrival is found in South Kerala (average = 14, 04,452). The highest total tourist arrival during the entire period of study is registered in Central Kerala and it is followed by North Kerala and South Kerala. The analysis of the study revealed that Tsunami affected the tourist arrival of Central Kerala whereas terrorist attack in the World Trade Centre, Tsunami and Global Economic Crisis affected the tourist arrival in South Kerala. But these factors never affected the tourist arrival of North Kerala. The percentage distributions of annual average total tourist arrivals in the three regions are the South Kerala (21.35 per cent), Central Kerala (51.14 per cent) and North Kerala (27.51 per cent). In the case of domestic tourist the highest annual average tourist arrival is found in Central Kerala and the lowest is found in South Kerala; whereas in the case of foreign tourist arrivals the highest is found in Central Kerala and the lowest is found in North Kerala. From this study, it is found that the highest annual average of total tourist arrival is in Central Kerala during the period of study and hence the 423
most favorable and potential tourism region in the State is the Central Kerala. Therefore the hypothesis that all regions of the State are equally favorable and potential for tourism development is rejected. The result of the analysis of average tourist arrivals during the period of study in different seasons, it is found that the highest average total, domestic and foreign tourist arrivals is in winter season and the lowest is seen in monsoon season. There is no wide influence in the total average tourist arrivals in different seasons. About three per cent difference is found in the total average tourist arrival between winter and summer and between summer and monsoon season. However, it is to be noticed that seasonality of tourism has much affected the foreign tourist arrival but there is no wide difference in domestic tourist arrival in different seasons compared to foreign tourist arrival. The analysis of the study also reveals that the total, domestic and foreign tourist arrivals have been increasing in all years during the period of study in all seasons. However, change in the economic, social and political conditions adversely affected the total, domestic and foreign tourist arrival in almost all seasons. The highest month wise average total tourist arrival during the period of study is in the month of December. The other highest months of average total tourist arrival in the order are May, November, January, October, April, August and September. From this it is clear that even though climate is the main factor of tourist arrivals but some other factors like school vacation, fairs and festival also strongly affect the arrival of tourist in the state. The lowest month wise average total tourist arrival is found in the month of June. The highest month wise average domestic tourist arrival during the period of study is found in the month of December. The other highest months of average domestic tourist arrival in the order are May, November, January, October, April, August and September. From this, it is clear that domestic tourism is not much affected by season; both winter and summer are equally important for domestic tourism. The lowest average domestic tourist arrival is found in the month of March. 424
The highest average foreign tourist arrival is found in the month of January. December, February and November are the next highest arrival in the order. So, it is clear that foreign tourist arrival is based on purely season and highest foreign tourist arrival is winter season. From the district-wise study, it is also found that the highest average total and the highest average domestic tourist arrivals are found in Thrissur district whereas, the highest average foreign tourist arrival is seen in Thruvananthapuram district. However, lowest average total, domestic and foreign tourist arrival is found in Pathanamthitta district. To evaluate the relationship between environment and tourism in developing tourism industry of the state, the secondary data selected are: number of tourist arrivals in Kerala, number of tourist destinations notified by the department of tourism and the infrastructure and superstructure environment such as number of hotels, available number of rooms in hotels, number of hospitals, number of beds available in hospitals, number of trains operated, number of flights operated, number of buses operated, number of branches of banks, number of tourist boats, number of speed boats, number of house boats, other passenger boats and road length of Kerala during the period of study. Karl Pearson Coefficient of Correlation between number of tourist arrivals and number of destinations shows that the highest correlation is between foreign tourist arrivals with number of destinations, the second highest correlation is seen between total tourist arrivals with number of destinations and the third correlation between domestic tourist arrivals with number of destinations. Hence the result indicates that tourists arrival in Kerala is directly related to the number of notified tourist destinations. Similarly it can be seen that there exist significant correlation between foreign tourist arrivals with number of beds in hospitals, number of banks, number of flights operated, road length and number of trains operated and significant correlation between domestic tourist arrivals with number of beds 425
in hospitals, number of flights operated and number of trains operated which are statistically significant at five per cent level of significance. From the result it can be inferred that tourist arrivals are directly related to the selected infrastructure facilities such as beds in hospital, number of banks, number of flights operated, number of trains operated, number buses operated and road length. The correlation analysis also indicates that total tourist arrivals as well as foreign and domestic tourists arrivals are directly related to the number of house boats registered in Kerala. In addition to this relationship, number of domestic tourist arrivals is significantly correlated with passenger and tourist boats; and foreign tourist arrivals is significantly correlated with the number of speed boats registered. From the result it can be inferred that house boats attract both domestic and foreign tourists, passenger and tourist boats are more related to domestic tourism whereas speed boats are more related to foreign tourism. As far as classified hotels are concerned, number of three star hotels is highly correlated with total tourist arrivals as well as foreign and domestic tourists arrivals. Foreign tourists have next significant correlation with heritage homes where as domestic tourists have next significant correlation with apartments. It is to be noted that one star hotels have negative correlation with all types of tourist arrivals whereas two star hotels have insignificant correlation with all types of tourist arrivals. From the results it can be inferred that both foreign and domestic tourists prefer rooms in three star hotels more than other types of classified hotels. Further, the numbers of one star hotel rooms are drastically reducing and numbers of two star hotels rooms are remaining steady. In conclusion, tourism is found to nourish high class hotels rooms rather than low class hotels rooms. In short, the analysis concluded that there exists significant relationship between environment and tourism in developing the tourism industry of the 426
State. Hence, the hypothesis that there is a strong relationship between environment and tourism in developing tourism industry of the state is accepted. Age, sex, marital status, educational qualification, occupation and annual income are the selected personal characteristics of tourist. The study reveals that the highest percentages of total and domestic tourists are in the age group of 26-35 years whereas the highest percentage of foreign tourists is in the age group of 36-45 years, indicating that majority of the tourist, irrespective of their place of origin, are in the age group of between 26-45 years. The majority of the tourists are found to be male and among foreign tourists female domination is seen. Analysis also shows that more than sixty five per cent of the tourists are married except in the case of tourists from the USA of whom more than seventy five per cent are unmarried but the percentage of married is higher among domestic tourist. More than eighty five per cent of tourists are graduates or higher degree holders and more than ninety per cent of the tourists are engaged in either business or employed or professionals. It is also found that the majority of the tourists belong to medium income group and higher income group tourists are the lowest. The number of times visited, the average daily expenditure and the number of days stayed in Kerala are the commercial characteristics of tourist selected for analysis. About fifty five per cent of the tourists are first time visitors. Foreign tourists are found to have the tendency of staying for a longer period than domestic tourists. About eighty three per cent of the tourists are spending daily an average amount of 3000 or less and among them, those spending less than 1500 and between 1500-3000 are equal. In order to study the objective to ascertain the factors that directly contributed to the development of tourism industry of the state, the factors that initiated the tourists to visit Kerala are analysed. The variables analysed are geographical diversity and natural beauty, friendly climate, better food, low cost of living, hospitality of people, better accommodation facilities, entertainment facilities like amusement park, palaces, museums and cultural centres, 427
Ayurvedic health resorts, people and their customs, fairs and festivals, art forms, tourist villages, pilgrim centres, social and political factors, peace and security, educational value, better infrastructural facilities, western medical treatment facilities and Amrithapuri, the ashram of Matha Amrithananthamai. Geographical diversity and natural beauty are the most important factors that initiated the domestic tourists to visit Kerala. Ninety three per cent of the domestic tourists are initiated by this factor. The second factor that initiated them to visit Kerala is friendly climate. Fifty one per cent of them are influenced by it. Some other factors that initiated the domestic tourist to visit Kerala are better food, entertainments, low cost of living etc. More or less the same factors have influenced the foreign tourist also. About ninety per cent of the total tourists are initiated to visit Kerala due to geographical diversity and natural beauty of the state. Even though the second factor that initiated the tourist to visit Kerala is friendly climate, only fifty five per cent of the tourists are initiated by this factor. Some other important factors that initiated are better food, low cost of living, hospitality of people, better accommodation facilities, entertainments, palaces, museums, Ayurvedic medical treatment etc. From the result of the study, it is found that geographical diversity and natural beauty are the main factors that initiated the tourist to visit Kerala from all over the World except tourist from the Asian countries. Hence the hypothesis that geographical diversity and natural beauty are the main factors that initiated the tourist to visit Kerala is accepted. In order to study the objective to identify the most attractive primary tourism product of the state, twenty three selected primary products of the state are analyzed which are back water tourism, beach tourism, hill stations, wildlife sanctuaries ecotourism, climate, Ayurvedic health tourism, waterfalls, green farm tourism, rivers, palaces/museums/monuments etc., tourist/picnic/handicraft villages, art forms, cuisine tourism, pilgrim tourism, 428
amusement park, fairs and festivals, handicrafts, monsoon tourism, village tourism, medical tourism, adventure tourism and forest tourism. The highest attracted primary tourism product to the domestic tourist is backwater tourism. Some other primary tourism products that attracted them in the order of attraction are hill station, wildlife, ecotourism, beaches etc. However, the highest attracted primary tourism product to foreign tourist is beach tourism. Some other primary tourism products that attracted them in the order of attraction are backwaters, hill stations, wildlife, climate, Ayurvedic health tourism, rivers, waterfalls, and green farm tourism. More than sixty per cent of the domestic tourists are attracted by pilgrim tourism. Therefore, pilgrim tourism is a high potential area of domestic tourism. Medical tourism is found to be more potential among foreign tourists than domestic tourists. It is surprising that more than sixty per cent of the tourists from the Asian countries are deeply attracted by medical tourism of the state. Recently promoted products such as monsoon tourism and village tourism are having less demand among both domestic and foreign tourists. Amusement parks influenced the majority of domestic tourists. But this product does not much influence foreign tourist. The most attracted primary tourism product for tourists from the European countries and the American countries is beach tourism and backwater tourism respectively. However the most attracted primary tourism product for tourists from the Asian countries is green farm tourism. It is followed by hill station tourism, medical tourism and backwater tourism. So it is very clear that the greenish beauty and medical tourism are the main attraction of tourists from the Asian countries. Hundred per cent of the foreign tourists from the Rest of the World are attracted by beach tourism. The most attracted primary tourism product of the state to the tourist is backwater tourism. It attracted about seventy nine per cent of the total tourists who visited the State. The second attracted primary tourism product is beach tourism, which attracted about seventy four per cent and the least attracted 429
primary tourism product is monsoon tourism. The other primary tourism products that attracted tourists in the order of attraction are hill stations, wildlife sanctuaries, ecotourism, climate, Ayurvedic health tourism, waterfalls, green farm tourism, rivers, palaces, museums, monuments etc.,tourist/picnic/handicraft villages, art forms, cuisine tourism, pilgrim tourism, amusement park, fairs and festivals, forest tourism, adventure tourism, handicrafts, medical tourism and village tourism. It is interesting to note that the highest and the lowest attracted products to the tourists are related to water. The highest attracted primary tourism product to the tourist is backwater tourism where as the lowest demanding product is monsoon tourism. From the above results of analysis of the study it can be concluded that the most attracted primary tourism product of the State to the tourist is backwater tourism. Hence the hypothesis that beach tourism is the most attractive primary tourism product of the State is rejected. The most satisfied primary tourism product to the domestic tourist is hill station tourism. It is to be noted that the mean score satisfaction of one the most popular primary tourism product of the state (beach tourism) has the penultimate rank. However, the most satisfied product to the foreign tourist is medical tourism which is not much popular in the state and the lowest satisfaction is derived from amusement parks, adventure tourism, forest tourism and beach tourism respectively. The primary tourism product of the state that satisfied the tourist the most is hill station tourism and that satisfied him the least is handicrafts. The mean score satisfaction of other primary tourism products to the tourists in the order of satisfaction are Ayurvedic health tourism, art forms, climate, medical tourism, backwaters, fairs and festivals, palaces and museums, cuisine tourism, monsoon tourism, green farm tourism, eco tourism, rivers, wildlife sanctuaries, village tourism, tourist/picnic/handicraft villages, waterfalls, forest tourism, amusement park, beaches, adventure tourism. 430
The study reveals that the mean score satisfaction of some unpopular products has comparatively higher rank; art forms (3 rd rank), medical tourism (5 th rank), fairs and festivals (7 th rank), palaces and museums (8 th rank), cuisine tourism (9 th rank) and monsoon tourism (10 th rank) whereas the mean score satisfaction of most popular products are very low. The rank based on mean score satisfaction of ecotourism is thirteen, wildlife sanctuaries is fifteen, waterfalls is eighteen and the most prestigious product, beach tourism is only twenty one. The tourists are satisfied with all primary tourism products as their mean score satisfaction to the total tourists as well as domestic and foreign are equal to or greater than three. It conveys the strength of the primary tourism products of the State. Hence the result supports the hypothesis that primary tourism products have positive impact in the tourism development of the state. Primary tourism products are classified into natural environment product, symbiotic environment product, manmade environment product and cultural environment product. Beach tourism, hill station tourism, waterfalls, rivers, climate and monsoon tourism are the selected natural environment products for the study. The greatest attraction to the tourist among natural environment product is found to be beach tourism and it is followed by hill station tourism, climate, waterfalls, rivers and monsoon tourism. The most attracted natural environment product to domestic tourist is hill station tourism but beach tourism is the highest attraction among foreign tourist and both domestic and foreign tourists are least interested in monsoon tourism. The highest satisfaction among natural environment products is derived by the tourist from hill station tourism. Climate, monsoon tourism, rivers and waterfalls are the other products in the order of their satisfaction. The level of satisfaction of both domestic and foreign tourists on all natural environment products are in the same order of the level of satisfaction of total tourist except in the case of rivers. Domestic tourists are more satisfied on 431
rivers compared to foreign tourists. The lowest satisfied product to total, domestic and foreign tourists is beach tourism. The highest satisfied natural environment product to tourists from the European countries and the RoW are hill station tourism whereas the most satisfied product to tourists from the USA is rivers and climate. Climate is the most satisfied natural environment product to tourists from the Asian countries. Total, domestic, foreign tourists, especially tourists from the European countries, the American countries, the Asian countries and the RoW are satisfied with all natural environment products and hence it can be said that natural environment products have positive impact on the tourism development of the state. Hence, the above results of analysis support the hypothesis that natural environment has positive impact on tourism development of the state. Backwater tourism, wildlife sanctuaries, ecotourism, Ayurvedic Health tourism, forest tourism, adventure tourism, green farm tourism or plantation tourism and tourist village/picnic centres are taken as symbiotic environment products for analysis. The analysis shows that the highest attraction of symbiotic environment product to the tourist is backwater tourism which attracted more than seventy nine per cent of the tourists. The second and third attraction to the tourist is respectively wildlife sanctuaries and ecotourism. The same order of attraction is exhibited by the domestic and foreign tourist also except in the case of ecotourism and Ayurvedic health tourism. Domestic tourists are more attracted to ecotourism whereas foreign tourists are more interested in Ayurvedic health tourism. The highest satisfied symbiotic product to the tourist is found to be Ayurvedic health tourism and it is followed by backwater tourism, green farm tourism, ecotourism, wildlife sanctuaries and tourist villages. Among the symbiotic environment products, the lowest level of satisfaction is derived from adventure tourism and forest tourism. The same order of level of satisfaction is derived by both domestic and foreign tourists also except in the 432
case of green farm tourism. In the case of green farm tourism, the level of satisfaction derived by foreign tourist is greater than that of domestic tourist. The highest satisfied symbiotic environment product to tourist from the European countries and from the USA is Ayurvedic health tourism. But the highest satisfied symbiotic environment product to tourist from the Asian countries is backwater tourism. However, the most satisfied product to tourists from the RoW is found to be wildlife sanctuaries and Ayurvedic health tourism. The result of analysis reveals that total, domestic and foreign tourists, especially tourists from the European countries, the American countries, the Asian countries and the RoW are satisfied with all symbiotic environment products and hence it can be said that symbiotic environment has positive impact on tourism development of the state. Cuisine tourism, medical tourism and amusement parks are taken as the manmade environment products studied for analysis. The analysis reveals that cuisine tourism is the most preferable product to the tourists. This product is attracted by more than forty per cent of the tourists. However, domestic tourists are more attracted to amusement parks whereas foreign tourists are more attracted to cuisine tourism and medical tourism. The highest satisfied product to the tourists is medical tourism. Foreign tourists are more satisfied with medical tourism and cuisine tourism and derived less satisfaction from amusement parks than domestic tourist. The most satisfied manmade environment product to tourists from the European countries, the Asian countries and the RoW is medical tourism whereas the highest satisfied product of tourist from the USA is cuisine tourism. The result of analysis reveals that total, domestic, foreign tourists and especially tourist from the European countries, the American countries, the Asian countries and the RoW are satisfied with all manmade environment products and hence it can be said that manmade environment has positive impact on tourism development of the state. 433
From the analysis of the study, it is also found that there is significant difference in the level of satisfaction of domestic and foreign tourists on all manmade environment products as their t test result is less than 0.05. Hence the hypothesis that there is no significant difference in the level of satisfaction of domestic and foreign tourist on manmade environment products is rejected. Art forms, palaces/ museums/ monuments/ historical and cultural centres, fairs and festivals, pilgrim centres, village tourism and handicrafts are analysed for the study as cultural environment products. The most attracted cultural environment product to the total, domestic and foreign tourists is palaces/museums/monuments/historical and cultural centres. They are attracted by about forty seven per cent of the total tourist. The lowest attraction to the total and domestic tourist is village tourism where as in the case of foreign tourist, it is fairs and festivals. The highest satisfied product to the total, domestic and foreign tourists is the art forms and the lowest satisfied product is handicrafts. The highest satisfaction is derived by tourists from the European countries, the USA and the RoW from art forms. However in the case of tourists from the Asian countries, the most satisfied cultural environment product is pilgrim tourism. The result of analysis reveals that total, domestic, foreign tourist and especially tourists from the European countries, the American countries, the Asian countries and the RoW are satisfied with all cultural environment products hence it can be said that cultural environment products have positive impact on the tourism development of the state. From the study, it can also be found that there is significant difference between domestic and foreign tourists in respect of attraction of all cultural environment products. Domestic tourists are attracted more compared to foreign tourist and hence the result rejects the hypothesis that there is no significant difference between domestic and foreign tourist in the attraction of cultural environment products. 434
The level of satisfaction of fifty one selected secondary products is analysed for the study. The products studied are accommodation provided in the house boat, initiative of Govt. for tourism development, law and order, classified hotels/resorts, food for hotels, effect of free from terrorism, literacy of people, attitude of local people, home stay facilities, motels, political stability of Kerala, behaviour of tourist guides, unclassified hotels, restaurant, Grihastali unit, banking facilities, services of travel agents, air ports, attitude of police, healthcare facilities, communication facilities, behaviour of taxi drivers, effect of epidemic diseases, tourist information facilities, cost of travel within Kerala, waterways, railways, communicative skill of people, recreation facilities, cost of beverages, rent of Grihastali units, hospitality of hotel employees, price of articles, locker facilities, rent of home stay facilities, rent of unclassified hotels, parking facilities, charges of food, drinking water facilities, power supply, sign board showing tourist destinations, cleanliness of people, street light, safety and security, rent of classified hotels/resorts, cost of travel from place of origin to Kerala, public sanitation, road ways, Sewage and drainage, effect of natural calamities and effect of Hartal. The analysis shows that the most satisfied secondary tourism product to the total tourist is accommodation provided in the house boat and it is followed by initiative of government for tourism development, law and order situation of the state, classified hotels and resorts, food of hotels, absence of terrorism activities, literacy of people, attitude of local people etc. However, the most satisfied secondary tourism product to the domestic tourist is the initiative of the government of Kerala for tourism development and it is followed by accommodation provided in the house boats, law and order situation of the state, classified hotel and resorts, literacy of people, home stay etc. The most satisfied secondary tourism product to the foreign tourist is accommodation provided in the house boat and it is followed by initiative of the government for tourism development, law and order situation of the state, absence of terrorism activities, food of hotels, classified hotels and resorts, 435
attitude of police, literacy of people, motels, restaurants, home stay etc. The most dissatisfied secondary tourism product to tourist, domestic and foreign is the effect of Harthal. The study found that out of fifty one secondary products analysed, tourists are satisfied with thirty five products, domestic tourists are satisfied with thirty one products and foreign tourists are satisfied with thirty eight products. Hence the hypothesis that secondary tourism products have negative impact on the tourism development of the state is rejected. Secondary tourism products are classified into superstructure environment product, infrastructure environment products, human environment product, economic environment products and social and political environment product The superstructure environment products used for analysis are classified hotels and resorts, accommodation provided in the house boats, home stay facilities, Grihasthali units, unclassified hotels, and hotels for food, motels, and restaurants. The most satisfied superstructure environment product to the total tourists is accommodation provided in the house boat and it is followed by classified hotels/resorts, home stay, Grihasthali units and unclassified hotels. Domestic tourists are more satisfied with accommodation facilities whereas foreign tourists are more satisfied with food. The most satisfied product to the tourists from the European countries and the Asian countries is the accommodation provided in the house boats. Whereas in the case of tourists from the USA, the most satisfied superstructure environment product is classified hotels/resorts. But the most satisfied product of tourists from the RoW is food available from ordinary hotels. The result of analysis reveals that total, domestic, foreign tourists and especially tourists from the European countries, the American countries, the Asian countries and the RoW are satisfied with all superstructure environment 436
products and hence it can be said that superstructure environment has positive impact on tourism development of the state. The infrastructure environment products used for the analysis of the study are roads, railways, air ports, water ways, service of travel agents, general and tourist information facilities, sign board showing tourist destination, communication facilities, healthcare facilities, drinking water facilities, banking facilities, recreation facilities, power supply, public sanitation, sewage and drainage facilities, measures of safety and security of tourist, locker facilities and street light. The most satisfied infrastructure environment product to domestic tourist is service of travel agents and it is followed by banking facilities, communication facilities and they are least satisfied with sewage and drainage facilities. The analysis of the study reveals that out of nineteen infrastructure environment products, mean score level of satisfaction of ten products are found to be less than three. So the domestic tourists are dissatisfied with infrastructure environment products hence it can be stated that infrastructure environment products have negative impact on tourism development of the state in connection with domestic tourism. The most satisfied infrastructure environment product to foreign tourist is banking facilities and it is followed by healthcare facilities, air ports and that they are least satisfied with sewage and drainage facilities. The analysis of the study reveals that out of nineteen infrastructure environment products, foreign tourists is satisfied with ten infrastructure environment products and hence it can be stated that infrastructure environment products have positive impact on tourism development of the state in connection with foreign tourism. Tourists from the European countries, the USA and the RoW are satisfied with ten or more infrastructure environment products. Therefore, it can be concluded that infrastructure environment products have positive 437
impact on tourism development in respect of tourists from the European countries, the USA and the RoW. However, as far as tourists from the Asian countries are concerned, out of nineteen variables analysed, they are satisfied with only eight variables. Therefore, tourists from the Asian countries are not satisfied with the majority of the infrastructure environment products and hence it can be concluded that infrastructure environment products have negative impact on tourism development in Kerala in respect of tourists from the Asian countries. The most satisfied infrastructure environment product to the total tourist is banking facilities. The other infrastructure environment products in the order of their level of satisfaction are service of travel agents, air port, communication facilities, healthcare facilities and railways. However, tourists are not satisfied with products like, locker facilities, drinking water facilities, power supply, signboard showing tourist destinations, parking facilities, street light, measures of safety and security to tourists, road ways, and public sanitation and sewage and drainage facilities. Nineteen infrastructure environment products are analysed for the study. Tourists are dissatisfied with the majority of the products. Hence, it can be concluded that infrastructure environment products of the state have negative impact on tourist in connection with the tourism development of the state. From the result of the analysis, it is found that total tourist, domestic tourists; tourists from the Asian countries are dissatisfied with infrastructure environment products whereas all other foreign tourists are satisfied with infrastructure environment products. Hence the analysis of the study accepts the hypothesis formulated for the study that infrastructure environment products of the state have negative impact on the tourism development of the state. The variable used for the analysis of the study of human environment products are literacy of people, behavior and attitude of local people, tourist guides, taxi drivers, service of police, communicative skill and cleanliness of 438
people and hospitality of people working in hotels. The study reveals that the most satisfied human environment product to the tourist is literacy of people. However, tourists are dissatisfied with cleanliness of people. Foreign tourists are more satisfied with human environment products than domestic tourist except literacy of people, behavior of tourist guides and hospitality of people working in hotels. Domestic tourists are satisfied with all human environment products except cleanliness of people whereas foreign tourists are satisfied with all human environment products except hospitality of people working in hotels. The most satisfied human environment product to tourists from the European countries, the USA and the RoW is behavior and attitude of local people. The most satisfied product to the tourists from the Asian countries is literacy of people. It is surprising that there is significant difference in the level of satisfaction of tourists from different foreign countries on all human environment products. From the study, it is found that out of eight human environment products analysed, tourists from all over the world are satisfied with seven products except tourists from the Asian countries. They are satisfied with only six products. The result of analysis reveals that tourists are satisfied with almost all human environment products and hence the hypothesis formulated for the study that human environment products hinder tourism development of the state is rejected. Rent of classifies hotels and resorts, home stay facilities, Grihastali units, unclassified hotels, charges of food, price of shopping goods and other articles, price of beverages, cost of travel from place of origin to Kerala and cost of travel within Kerala are the economic environment products used for the analysis of the study. From the study it is found that foreign tourists are more satisfied with all economic environment products except in the cases of rent of classified hotels/resorts and cost of travel from the place of origin to Kerala. At the same time, domestic tourists are satisfied with only two products namely cost of beverages and cost of travel within Kerala. In short, 439
domestic tourists are more dissatisfied than foreign tourists on economic environment product. It can be concluded that economic environment products have positive impact on foreign tourist and negative impact on domestic tourist in the tourism development of the state. Tourists from the European countries and the USA are satisfied with all economic environment products except rent of classified hotels /resorts and cost of travel from place of origin to Kerala. Tourists from the Asian countries are dissatisfied with four economic environment products namely; rent of classified hotels/resorts, rent of home stay facilities, charges of food and price of shopping articles and other goods as the mean score level of satisfaction is less than three and satisfied with the other five products. Out of seven economic environment products analysed, tourist from the RoW are satisfied with five products and hence it can be concluded that economic environment products have positive impact on tourist from the European countries, the USA, the Asian countries and the RoW and have positive impact on tourism development of the state. The most satisfied economic environment product to the total tourist is cost of travel within Kerala and it is followed by cost of beverage, rent of Grihastali units and price of shopping goods and other articles. Tourists are satisfied with five variables out of nine variables analysed. Hence, economic environments products have positive impact on tourism development in the state. The variables used for the analysis of the study of social and political environment products are law and order situation of Kerala, attitude of government for promoting tourism, political stability of the state, effect of terrorism, Harthal, natural calamities and epidemic deceases. The most satisfied social and political environment product to the total, domestic, foreign tourists and especially tourists from the European countries and the USA is initiative of the government for tourism development and the most 440
dissatisfied product is the effect of Harthal or sudden strike. The most satisfied social and political environment product to the tourists from the Asian countries is that the state is free from threats of terrorism. Tourists from the Asian countries are not dissatisfied with any social and political environment products. The most satisfied social and political environment product to the tourists from the RoW is the absence of terrorism and law and order situation. Tourists are satisfied with majority of the social and political environment products and therefore it can be concluded that social and political environment products have positive impact on the tourism development of the State. The strength and weakness of important primary products like backwater tourism, beach tourism, hill station tourism, waterfalls, ecotourism, wildlife sanctuaries, Ayurvedic health tourism and medical tourism are analysed in detail for identifying the potentialities and overcoming the weakness for increasing its level of satisfaction. The main attraction of backwater tourism is the scenic beauty. More than seventy five per cent of the tourists are attracted due to this fact. The other attractiveness of this product are good behaviour of staff working in house boats and other tourist boats, the comfort and safety, better facilities in house boats etc. The most serious compliant levelled against backwater tourism is polluted and dirty backwaters. During summer season, water level of canals falls even below six feats. When boats are passing, the mud from the underground of canals is spread to the surface which creates foul smell in the area. Vomiting sensation is felt among tourists which results in dissatisfaction. The negative impacts arise out of unplanned and uncontrolled tourist flow in to the destination. Pollution levels in the backwaters of Kerala are increasing as the number of house boats increases. Since fuel refilling is done 441
without proper care and sewage and kitchen waste water is released directly into the waters, a film of oil has been fast spreading over the water in the lakes. It is alarmingly thick in Punnamada in Alappuzha district and Kumarakom in Kottayam district where the largest number of house boats anchor. Oil and fuel from two-stroke engines are being released through motorized boating activity. Most of the house boats are not using the facility of incinerator. They are discharging human excreta and other wastes directly into the lakes. The bottom of the lakes is filled with bio-no degradable wastes like plastic carry bags, plastic bottles etc. Backwaters and canals are used as place of dumping public waste and industrial waste. Animal and poultry wastes from meat shops are dumped into the backwaters, are decayed, which spread bad smell and contaminate the backwaters and canal water. Moreover, in some places, toilet outlets of houses and hotel waste pipes are opened to the canals which create ultimately pollution in the backwaters. These are the main causes polluting the backwaters and create dissatisfaction to the tourist. The second complaint levelled against backwater tourism is lack of proper safety. It is a major concern at present. Thekkady boat tragedy is a bitter experience to the Kerala tourism which caused the death of forty five domestic tourists. Beach tourism is the highest attraction of foreign tourist and the main attraction of this product is scenic beauty which is expressed by about sixty three per cent of the tourists who experienced this product. More than fifty five per cent are of the opinion that beach tourism is less expensive. The other attractions of beach tourism in the order of their attraction are the comfortable, safe and calm beaches. Major threats to beach tourism are accumulation of waste and plastic. The other problems of beach tourism are that it promotes alcoholism and drug abuse, the disturbance of local people, functioning of unwanted shops near 442