Not surprisingly though, Kerala or God's own country as the advertising catchphrase goes, has managed to figure in the first 50 must-see destinations of the world...an inspiring fact which should inject zest to the tourist drive in the state.

Tourist inflow to Kerala has been on the increase. While tourism has registered an 18 per cent growth in Kerala, the national growth is seven per cent. What more, Kerala even bucked the recession trend in global tourism.

Now the state is poised to move into the tourist fast track with its decision to invite the private sector into the industry. Kerala is the first state in India to lay down an absolutely transparent competitiveframework for private sector partnership in infrastructure development.

Kerala has crafted an attractive tourist menu as well, with a flamboyant packaging. Even as Ayurveda remains its USP, the Tourism Department is planning to capitalise on the monsoons of Kerala, which occur during a tourist dry spell.

Ayurvedic treatment, the last word in sustainable rejuvenative therapy, is undertaken during monsoons. Kerala tourism can get the much-needed spurt if the expatriate population can be tempted to time their holidays with the monsoons. Good tourist destinations are an eternal quest with the foreigners and Kerala could be projected as a must-flavour option.

It is a feasible proposition in view of the air connectivity that exists to Kerala now.

``All it takes is to open Kochi and Kozhikode to foreign airlines. Airlines do market destinations, like the Emirates Airlines or the Singapore Airlines. The tragedy of Kerala is that it is still the monopoly of Air India and Indian Airlines,'' sighs TourismSecretary Amitabh Kant.

Routinely transporting workers to the Gulf countries, these airlines have never considered marketing the destination itself.