The spread of education worldwide led to a natural curiosity among the people to travel and discover how countries to live and work. Arnold. J. Toynbee, a great historian once said:
“Since 1911, I have always traveled as often and as long as far as I have been able to. This is the one activity to which I have given precedence over my otherwise paramount activity of writing. Whenever, I have had a chance of intellectually profitable travel, my writing has had to wait. As I see it, travel ought to come before everything else for a student of human affairs. To meet someone face to face and see a landscape with one’s own eyes is worth more than volumes of letter-press, photographs and maps-glimpses of the world that are gleanings of priceless value”.
Thus, it can be rightly said that “Tourism involves education without class-rooms. Indian culture has also given a great fillip to modern tourism in the country. Cultural tourism has a special place in India and especially in Kerala because of its unbroken past civilization. Several market surveys on Indian tourism over the last fifteen years showed that the most important aspect that motivated more than 70 percent of the tourist to visit India was to see a country with an ancient civilization, rich in arts, culture, monuments, temples and educational institutions.
Our historical and archeological monuments continue to be the biggest draw in attracting the international tourist. This fact has been confirmed by a recent reaction survey, conducted by the Department of Tourism into the Tourism Reaction pattern. However, the survey placed curiosity (42%) as the major factor influencing travel to India. In Kerala package tourism is gaining more popularity and that too those with a mix of sun, sand and visit to the cultural monuments at different localities. For the tourism boards of other states, to offer sun and sand, they need to come to states like Kerala, whereas in Kerala everything is available under one roof. The package tourism model is here to stay and is likely to totally transform the travel and tourism sector in Kerala.