'We have lost 70-80 per cent of our business from foreign guests.'
The North Cliff in Varkala is all go on a Thursday evening.
Most of the tourists strolling along the narrow lane, which stretches across the Cliffside, are from different parts of India, though one still runs into foreign visitors.
The cliff is dotted with restaurants, cafés, Ayurveda massage centres, and small resorts.
From the cliff, tourists can be seen taking a dip in the sea while others try parasailing.
Key Points
- Kerala's tourism sector faces sharp disruption due to Iran war, with cancellations, travel delays, and declining foreign arrivals.
- Businesses in Varkala report 70-80 per cent drop in foreign clientele, severely impacting Ayurveda centres and hospitality units.
- Travel disruptions via Gulf routes have reduced tourist inflow, while airfares for alternative routes have surged significantly.
- LPG shortages have forced restaurants to shift to alternative cooking methods, raising operational costs and affecting service quality.
- Resorts and shops face potential closures and job losses as uncertainty persists during the off-season domestic travel period.
Kerala tourism crisis Varkala
Kerala's tourist season typically runs from September to March.
By the end of March, most foreign tourists begin their return, though some extend their stay by a month or two.
From March to September, the tourism sector largely depends on domestic travellers.
But the Iran war has come as a bolt from the blue for local tourism operators, who depend heavily on foreign tourists.
Many businesses are grappling with cancellations, disrupted travel routes, and a shortage of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which is affecting restaurants.
Foreign tourist cancellations surge
The disruption comes at a time when Kerala had recorded a surge in tourist arrivals, hitting a record high last year.
According to official figures, the state received about 26 million visitors during the year. Of these, 821,999 were foreign.
Their number was 11.3 per cent higher than in 2024.
Bindu Biju, who runs an Ayurveda massage centre in Varkala since 1993, noted that business was robust until mid-February.
Typically, March and April bring heavy foreign footfall for yoga and ayurveda treatments, with some visitors extending their stay into May.
"Since the time this war started, business has gone sour," Biju said.
"We have lost 70-80 per cent of our business from foreign guests.
"Local tourists hardly opt for massage service."
Travel disruption Gulf routes
Uncertainty is palpable among the tourists themselves.
Lech Dulny, a Swedish national, originally travelled to Kerala for four-week Panchakarma treatment to cure severe knee pain.
While he recovered, he is now anxiously waiting to hear from his travel agency about his return flight via Doha (Qatar), considering alternative routes through Azerbaijan or London.
Initially hesitant to speak, Dulny later said bad experiences back home over his son's right-wing political career had prevented him from opening up.
"We may be entering one of the worst recessions since the Second World War," Dulny said.
Jobs at risk tourism sector
The impact is starkly visible at local places to stay.
The manager of a 25-room resort in Varkala reported 25 cancellations last month alone, leaving only about five occupied now.
The property is temporarily mitigating the LPG crunch by relying on reserve stocks and an in-house biogas plant.
"But if the situation continues like this, we can probably manage only for another month," the manager said.
"After that, we may have no choice but to let the staff go.
"We are staring at possible job losses."
LPG shortage restaurants Kerala
Along the cliff, the commercial LPG shortage has forced restaurants to overhaul their kitchen operations.
The manager of a restaurant that has been functional for 26 years said the place had to shift to cooking with wood and spent Rs 25,000 just to buy electric appliances to get round the gas shortage, because cylinders now cost Rs 200 above the market rates.
The establishment owning its property outright, rather than leasing it, has helped it manage the crisis.
For tourists who did make it to the state, the journey was fraught with delays.
Anastassia, a tourist from Austria, had her flight pushed back by a week before finally arriving via Abu Dhabi on March 21, though the airline accommodated the changes without extra fees.
Shop owners confirm that travel disruption has choked the supply of new arrivals.
Mansoor Ahmed from Srinagar, who runs his shop, Paradise Arts, in Kovalam only during the tourist season, was smoking a cigarette as he spoke.
The shop behind him looked as though it was already being packed up -- a fact he confirmed, adding that they would return for the next season.
He said he recently lost expected tour groups from Russia because their transit flights through the Gulf were cancelled, and airfares for alternative routes have shot up.
For some travellers, the geopolitical effects have been far more personal.
A British national who spends part of his time in Turkey, and is visiting India for the 10th time since 1999, faced sudden hostility in his Istanbul neighbourhood when the war started.
He fled to Amsterdam before taking a longer, rerouted flight to Delhi on March 28 to avoid Iranian airspace.
"Within a week, some people started shouting things like 'Americana' at me, which I had never experienced before, so I locked up my house and left," he said.
"I had planned to return to Turkey soon, but now I'll stay in India for a while as the war may last months.
"From Delhi, I travelled to Kerala and plan to visit parts of Tamil Nadu and perhaps Sri Lanka."
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff
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