Kerala Tourism Eyes Revival with Restored Chinese Tourist Visas, ‘Look East’ Campaign

Quick Summary:

• The Union government of India has resumed issuing tourist visas to Chinese nationals after a five-year pause.
• Kerala Tourism had launched the Look East campaign in April 2025, targeting tourists from eight East Asian countries, including China. A 90-member delegation, including influencers and tour operators, visited Kerala as part of this initiative.
• The campaign yielded positive results in increased tourist arrivals from Malaysia and Singapore due to direct flight connectivity with Kerala.
• While China is the largest outbound travel market in Asia, visa restrictions had hindered efforts to target Chinese tourists directly. A focused marketing campaign for China coudl onyl begin next fiscal year due to budget limitations and geopolitical sensitivities between India and China.
• Statistics show that Chinese tourist arrivals declined significantly post-COVID, plummeting from 3,39,442 visitors in 2019 to fewer than 12,000 annually between 2020-2022 due to bilateral tensions and pandemic disruptions.
• In 2019 alone, Kerala saw a rise in visits by Chinese nationals (11,778 compared to 9,630 in 2018), highlighting growth potential tied closely with strategies like direct flight connectivity restoration.

Indian Opinion Analysis:
The decision to reintroduce tourist visas for chinese nationals holds promising implications for india’s tourism sector generally and regions like Kerala specifically. Despite recent challenges such as declining visitor numbers stemming from COVID restrictions and geopolitical instability following incidents at the line of Actual Control (LAC), statistical trends affirm China’s role as a major outbound travel market ripe for engagement.

Kerala’s strategic Look East initiative demonstrates foresight but also reveals resource allocation nuances; much of this fiscal year’s marketing budget prioritized European & Gulf destinations limiting immediate If injections return kinetic alignmaxim maximize