Kochi: Kerala
has emerged as the ‘Best Performing State in India’ under the category of
tourism, according to the ‘State of the States’ study.

Kerala has
also grabbed top honours in the categories of ‘Environment’ and ‘Cleanliness’
outperforming 28 states that featured in the survey, conducted on 12 key
development parameters. The 2019 study was conducted by India Today, a leading
magazine in India.

The parameters for
determining the best state in the tourism category included the number of
domestic and foreign tourists; funds spent on tourism promotion to tourist
population; airports and railway stations per 100,000 people; registered hotels
and five-star hotels per 100,000 tourists; and crimes against tourists per
100,000 tourists.

“It is an extremely
credible proof of the robustness of the state’s tourism sector that has also
become a mainstay of its economy. Particularly satisfying is the fact that
Kerala was adjudged third in this category in 2018. Now it is number one, which
underlines the fact that the state has fast shaped up as a tourism powerhouse,”
Kadakampally Surendran, Minister for Tourism, said while commenting on the SOS
survey.