Kerala Tourism Secretary Dr V Venu said that it was difficult to gauge just how far-reaching the crisis was at this stage, but hotels and resorts had already reported 30 per cent cancellations at a time when the state had been hoping to maintain at least last year’s growth rate. The revenue from tourism, which employs around 12 lakh people, had touched Rs 11,433 crore then.

The travel advisories against the country after the Mumbai attacks have also prompted many cancellations while corporate houses have stopped booking rooms for company getaways and conferences.

According to industry sources, the worst affected is backwater tourism in Alappuzha, which has 460 houseboats and 3,000-odd direct employees. Even the famous Kovalam beach has not been spared. Houseboat Owners’ Association president V C Zachariah said operators had been struggling to keep afloat as business had come down by more than 30 per cent. The flow of domestic tourists from north India is down to a trickle. “After Christmas and New Year bookings, we are heading for blank days. Unable to tide over the crisis, some entrepreneurs have decided to ground their boats,” said Zachariah.

The downturn in the IT sector has also taken a heavy toll. A major chunk of clients of the resorts in Wayanad hill station and Alappuzha backwaters consisted of the IT crowd from Bangalore and elsewhere in south India. Fear of job loss has forced the young professionals to stop spending on leisure and travel.

“Last December-January, all resorts and homestays in Wayanad had full bookings. However, this time, even enquiries have gone down by 70 per cent. The immediate forecast is bleak for the resorts, as leisure travel is likely to resume only after normalcy is restored in the economy,” said P P Biju, who runs Wayanad Nature Resorts.

Even Kovalam, a favourite destination for both foreign and domestic tourists now bears a deserted look. “Last year, the peak season spilled over to April and we fared well even during the off season. This time, reservations are very few after January,” said Rajagopal Iyyer, director, Uday Samudra Resorts, Kovalam. “During this season, our Kovalam property has full booking only from December 20 to January 6. But our e-mail box is flooded with cancellations,” said Thomas Paul, director, Thomas Holidays and Resorts.

On a positive note, the recession would slow down investment in the tourism sector, said Thomas, adding that many destinations in the state had reached a saturation point vis-à-vis resorts.

Meanwhile, Dr Venu said the Government had been working on a strategy to promote domestic tourism in a big way to overcome the crisis. The industry had already sought several incentives and tax cuts from the Government, he added.