• Jacqueline N J

ECONOMIC IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON TOURISM WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ERNAKULAM DISTRICT Abstract In 2018, south Indian state of Kerala was affected by the worst floods and landslides that it has experienced since 1924. The natural disaster of August 2018 resulted with in the loss of lives, livelihoods and caused destruction to houses, roads and various infrastructures. It is clear that just like last year, Kerala recorded extremely heavy rainfall in the second week of August lasting just a few days, this year too, there has been inconsistent rainfall throughout the season. A top India Meteorological Department (IMD) official said, “The intensity of rainfall has been high. It is more common nowadays, and we can attribute it to climate change. In the coming years as well, we can expect high-intensity rainfall.” In the changing climate scenario, frequency of extremely/exceptionally heavy rain episodes is increase at the expense of a decrease in the number of light/ moderate rainy days. This has serious implications for flood conditions. The productive sector of the economy including agriculture, industry and infrastructure suffered substantial losses during the flood period. Tourism industry is one among them. Tourism contributes to about 10 per cent of the state’s GDP and is responsible for about 15 lakh jobs as per the State Planning Board report 2017. A key development in the “Coming of Age” of tourism in the eyes of policy makers was undoubtedly the development of tourist multiplier model as first developed by Archer (1973) in his study of Anglessy, “The Impact of Domestic Tourism”. ‘Kerala - Gods Own Country’ has become a well- recognised tourism brand and the state has achieved impressive growth in foreign tourist arrivals in particular. Tourism of Kerala has evolved over time and is today an integral part of the overall service sectoral economic activity. The present work is an attempt to show how the flood economically affects the tourism industry in Ernakulam district. The random sampling technique was used for this study. The primary data was collected from the District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) in Ernakulam district. The economic impact of flood on tourism is evaluated on various contexts such as domestic revenue earnings, foreign exchange earnings and employment generation.

Key Words: Climate Change, Flood, Tourism, Foreign Exchange earnings, Domestic Revenue Earnings, Ernakulam District, Kerala.

"ECONOMIC IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON TOURISM WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ERNAKULAM DISTRICT", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no.737-745, June 2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1908903.pdf

"ECONOMIC IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON TOURISM WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ERNAKULAM DISTRICT", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no. pp737-745, June 2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1908903.pdf