Kerala tourism hopes to boost arrivals with Champions Boat League

MUMBAI: The very first edition of Kerala's Champions Boat League (CBL) is currently underway with its backwaters slated to play host to snake boats till November end. The CBL, which kick-started from late August, is conceived in the IPL format, it is going to be the main driver of monsoon tourism this year, said Suraj P K , Information officer, Kerala tourism.

"Every weekend any tourist who comes to Kerala, will be able to witness one " Champions Boat Race " in any of the tourism backwaters. It will end with the President’s Trophy Boat Race in Kollam on November 23, holding 12 races during the intervening weekends. It will be a world class experience for tourists,'' he said. The schedule for the ticketed CBL’s snake boat races includes events on October 5 (Marine Drive, Kochi), October 12 (Kottappuram, Thrissur), October 19 (Ponnani, Malappuram), October 26 (Kainakari, Alappuzha ), November 2 (Pulinkunnu, Alappuzha), November 9 (Kayamkulam, Alappuzha), November 16 (Kallada, Kollam), and November 23 (President’s Trophy Boat Race, Kollam).

Domestic tourist arrivals in Kerala in the first quarter of 2019 stood at 41,90,468 as against the figures of 38,77,712 during the corresponding period in 2018, registering an increase of 8.07 per cent, said the official adding that the increase in domestic tourist footfalls, especially in Ernakulam , Alappuzha and Idukki — the districts that suffered the brunt of floods last year — is a pointer that Kerala’s tourism is back on track. The top two states that send the largest number of domestic tourists to Kerala are Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, followed by Maharashtra in the third place. ``More than 5.7 lakh tourists we welcomed in 2018 were from Maharashtra,'' he said.