Mukt Shabd Journal ISSN NO : 2347-3150

KETTUVALLAM: A SUSTAINABLE INVESTMENT AVENUE Sanjith S R, Research scholar, PG Department of Commerce and Research Centre MG College Thiruvananthapuram, University of Kerala

Dr. Vinod A S, Assistant professor in Commerce, PG Department of Commerce and Research Centre, MG College Thiruvananthapuram

Abstract In a contemporary situation central government of India and state government promote self- employment to younger generations through various schemes such as subsidy, loan at lower rate, tax concession, and financial incentives like Mudra loan schemes etc. this is beneficial to the people for starting business enterprises in manufacturing, trading and service sector. Although majority of the entrepreneurs prefers manufacturing sectors and trade for entrepreneurship whilea minute entrepreneurs prefer service sector especially in tourism sector. Paradoxically entrepreneurs not as much as prefers tourism sector obviously it is one of the sector demanding high participation of private investment. This is the scenario for recognising an investment avenue in tourism sector called kettuvallam. Kettuvallam is a form of traditional boat in Kerala modified to a private tourism destination owned and operated by private individual with the permission of government.Kettuvallam is an investment avenue where profit as return, creating employment opportunity to residents, introducing cultural values to the rest of the world. Exploiting scenic beauty of backwaters, rivers and estuaries, fish food, flora and fauna, mangrove forest in Kerala etc. are the major attractiveness of kettuvallam tourism. On the basis of geographical specification, Kerala is the most appropriate state of establishing Kettuvallam enterprises. Of course private sector’s attention in kettuvallam tourism is highly demanded in the present situation and it is one of the highly emerging investment avenue and highly productive in nature. This study is an attempt to clarify the factors for supporting entrepreneurship in kettuvallam tourism.

Keywords: Kettuvallam, Investment, sustainable Investment Avenue, Entrepreneurship, Tourism, service sector.

Introduction

Investment is an employment of fund for productive resources with an aim of return. People invested in shares, debentures or bonds, money market instruments, life and general insurance, precious objects,mutual fund, non-marketable securities, derivatives, real estate, Crypto currency etc. with an aim of continuous return. Investment is based on risk taking capacity of investors, expected return, period of investment, liquidity, physical existence, interest, confidence, economic growth and inflation. Majority of an investors prefers any of the above investment alternatives for their safe deposit. In fact there are so many investment avenues are still exist which offers high returns with lowest risk but people have limited idea about such alternatives. Did you ever think individual investment in tourism? Yes it is possible. Majority of the people thinks that tourism is the typical part of government as a whole and people have limited role. Of course in Kerala most of the tourist

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destinations are directed and controlled by government and allied agencies however there are more scope for private entrepreneurs are still exists.

Review of literature

Kettuvallam is a sustainable tourism sector in Kerala offering employability to the local people directly or indirectly. A developing country like India really deserve such type of investment because it offers a platform for investment at the same time it also offers employment opportunity to the community. It’s a type of indigenous entrepreneurship which clearly indicating the artwork and craftsmanship of our pioneers. (“Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Tourism: The Houseboats of Kerala—Jithendran Kokkranikal, Alison Morrison, 2002,” n.d.)2.

(Joseph & Vasanthi, n.d.)5Houseboat tourism in the backwater of Kerala promote entrepreneurship of local people, contribute to the state and nations. Efficiency of kettuvallam tourism depends on the services offered at kettuvallam, behaviour of employees and marketing strategies of entrepreneurs. Marketability and satisfaction level of tourist can be enhanced through providing proper servicing of the domestic and international tourist as per their needs. Marketing strategies must be designed on the recent trends to create customer values.

(United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, n.d.)6express the importance of FDI in tourism sector. It is not only an easy task,While a rigorous segmenting, targeting and positioning approach is a necessary condition for success in promoting inward investment in the tourism industry, it is not sufficient. For inward investment in tourism to be successful, wide-ranging collaboration and coordination between players in the industry – both public and private – is required.

(“tourism investment—Google Search,” n.d.)7 Investment in the tourism industry establishes the creation of capital or goods capable of producing other goods or services in tourism industry for earning higher profits in the private sector or regional revitalization or make it as an investment avenue and economic growth for public purposes. When most of the people think of tourism for vacation to a backwater, hill area, farm house, an island, a beautiful vineyard, pilgrims or a mountains and valley. Obviously they rarely think of tourism as a source of inclusive poverty reduction in the developing world. (“Should we be promoting tourism sector investment?,” n.d.)8

(“Travel and Tourism investment expected to rise by 6.7% per annum over next 10 years: FICCI-YES Bank Report—The Economic Times,” n.d.)9Tourism is one of the fastest growing service industry in India. Approximately 6.7% annual growth rate expected over the next ten years. (“Travel and Tourism Investment in the Americas,” n.d.)10 WTTC has forecast that there will be 3.6 trillion US dollar worth of travel and tourism investment made in the American over the next decade. Which express a strong direct relationship between investment and demand. Which clearly shows the gap between investors in India and America towards investment in tourism.

From the light of review it is clear that investment in tourism sector is highly demanded avenue in the present scenario. According to the report of WTTC developed countries like America already made investment in tourism sector by predicting the future growth in this sector. Even UNCTD promoted FDI in tourism sector. Annual growth rate of Travel and tourism around the globe increases from year to year. A developing country like India expect 6.7% annual growth rate in tourism sector for future decades. People choose destinations of both natural and man-mad tourism according to their need, which clearly indicate tourism is not only for naturally gifted places and it also for the places where tourism is created. This is an occasion for understanding relevance of private investment in tourism sector. Private investment in tourism sector has greatest opportunity in Kerala. Kettuvallam, amusement parks, statues, parks, farm etc. are the major private tourism products in Kerala. Despite

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of this fact a few investors chooses tourism sector as Investment Avenue and it is the drawback of tourism sector in Kerala. Detailed study of reviews put forward the problem that “whether entrepreneurial mobility in kettuvallam tourism is beneficial or not in the present scenario?”

Objectives

 To study the entrepreneurial potential of Kettuvallam tourism in Kerala

Methodology

This study on kettuvallam tourism an investment avenue analyse the entrepreneurial potentiality of kettuvallam tourism in the state of Kerala. Both primary and secondary data are used for the study. Secondary data collected for building a strong theoretical background about kettuvallam and primary data is collected from kettuvallam entrepreneurs for identifying the existing dilemma and future possibility.

A structured questionnaire is used for collecting primary data from the kettuvallam proprietors. Sampling data collected from 50 kettuvallam entrepreneurs from different destinations such as Alleppey, Kumarakom and Muhamma.

Data analysis

 Gender wise classification of Kettuvallam service providers. Table no-1 Gender Gender No of percenta respondents ge Inference:table no -1 shows gender wise Male 44 88 classification of kettuvallam service Female 6 12 operators. Among the 50 respondents majority of the respondents are male Transgender 0 0 entrepreneurs occupying 88 percentage Total 50 100 Source: Primary data

 Age wise classification of kettuvallam entrepreneurs. Table no-2 Age Age Number of Percentage Inference: table no-2 represents age respondents wise classification of kettuvallam Less than 30 2 4 entrepreneurs. Majority of the 30-50 15 30 kettuvallam entrepreneurs are comes 50-70 30 60 under the age group of 50-70. Only 4 Above 70 3 6 percentage entrepreneurs represent Total 50 100 younger generation of less than 30 age category. Source: primary data.

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 Years of experience in kettuvallam operation Table No-3

Year of experience

Year of Number of Percentage Inference: table no-3 reveals that Experience Respondents majority of the kettuvallam proprietors 0-2 6 12 are engaged in tourism field from 5 to 7 2-5 5 10 years, which occupying 36 percentage 5-7 18 36 and 26 percentage of kettuvallam owners 7-10 8 16 has been in this field for more than 10 Above 10 13 26 years. Total 50 100 Source: primary data

 Classification on the basis of number of kettuvallam owned by entrepreneurs. Table No-4 Number of houseboat owned Number of Number of Percentage Inference: table number -4 reveals that house boat respondents majority of the entrepreneurs are single 1 32 64 owners which represent 64 percentage of 2 9 18 the total entrepreneurs. Only 2 3 6 12 percentage owners have more than 5 4 2 4 house boats. 5 and above 1 2 Total 50 100 Source: primary data  Classification on the basis of types of ownership Table No -5 Types of ownership Ownership Number of Percenta Inference: from table no-5 reveals that types respondents ge majority of the entrepreneurs are real owners Own 44 88 which occupy 88 percentage of the total Rent 3 6 respondents. While 6 percentage of the Lease 3 6 respondents are operated kettuvallam which Others 0 0 has been taken through rental as well as Total 50 100 lease basis.

Source: Primary data

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 Classification on the basis of Nature ownership. Table No-6 Nature of ownership Nature of Number of Percenta Inference: table number -6 reveals that ownership respondents ge majority of the respondents are sole Sole 35 70 proprietors. 70 percentage of the proprietorship respondents are sole proprietors. 16 Partnership 8 16 percentage of the respondents are doing Company 7 14 kettuvallam tourism under partnership HUF 0 0 basis and 14 percentage of the Cooperative 0 0 respondents are doing kettuvallam society business as in the form of company. Total 50 100 Source: primary data.

 Classification on the basis of primary source of capital Table No-7 Primary source of capital. Primary source of capital Number of Percentage Inferences: table no 7 respondents reveals that 62 percentage Own capital 31 62 of the respondents uses Loan from financial bank 12 24 own finance for initial Loan from other financial 7 14 capital followed by 24 institutions percentage raises fund Loan from money lenders 0 0 through loan from bank. Other sources 0 0 Total 50 100 Source: Primary sources

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 Factors affecting kettuvallam tourism Table No-8 Factors affecting kettuvallam tourism SL Financial Factors Mean SD No i. Volume of initial investment is affordable. 2.64 1.053755 ii. Source of finance is easily available 2.82 1.071261 iii. Cost of capital is reasonable 2.46 1.169786 iv. Floatation cost is modest. 2.66 1.159483 Operational factors Mean SD i. Wages paid to workers are affordable 3.7 1.374773 ii. RRepair and maintenance expenses are thrifty r 2.46 1.268227 iii. Day to day operational expenses are under budge 4.32 0.988737 iv. Revenue from tourist are profitable 4.2 1.183216 Registration formalities i. Registration procedure for kettuvallam is normal 2.94 0.98813 ii. There is no delay for getting registration certificates. 2.78 1.315903 iii. License fee charged by the concerned authority is affordable 4.1 0.921954 iv. Insurance premium amount economical 2.62 1.129425 Marketing factors i. Functions of concerned Government agencies for tourism development really promote tourism. 3.22 1.005783 ii. Travel agencies and tour operators facilitates marketing activities 4.02 0.989747 iii. Unregistered kettuvallam operators does not affect the marketing of registered kettuvallam 1.92 1.09252 iv. Individual promotional activities increases the marketability of kettuvallam tourism 3.74 1.425623 v. Kettuvallam tourism are subjected to modern marketing activities such as social media marketing, internet marketing. 2.58 1.312859 vi. Kettuvallam operators maintain CRM (Customer Relationship Management) 1.98 0.927146 Source: primary data. Inferences: 5 point scale is for the responds level of entrepreneurs regarding various factors. Where 5 point is given to highly agreed, 4 point is given to agreed 3 for neither agree nor disagree, 2 for disagree and 1 for highly disagree. The responds level is considered to be disagree if the mean value is less than 3. Highest mean with lowest standard deviation represents the most influenced factors of dependent variables. On the basis of operational factors entrepreneurs responds that wages paid to workers are affordable ,day to day operational expenses are under budget and revenue from tourist are profitable with mean value more than three that is 3.7, 4.32 and

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4.2 respectively. Although entrepreneurs implies that repair and maintenance expense of kettuvallam are unaffordable with mean value 2.46. Among these independent variable day to day expenses of kettuvallam is the most influenced factors which affecting operational factors with highest mean (4.32) and lowest standard deviation (0.988737). According to the registration formalities of kettuvallam tourism entrepreneurs responds a negative impact with a mean value less than three to the registration formalities, delay in registration certificate and amount of investment premium. However they have positive attitude towards licence fees imposed by the government with mean value more than three (4.1). From the above four factors determining registration factors, license fee is the most influenced factor with highest mean value. On the basis of marketing factor promotional activity of government, concerned department or government agency, activities of tour operators and travel agency, self-promotion of entrepreneurs etc. are the most influenced factors of marketing of kettuvallam tourism. Even though marketing activities of tour operators and travel agency plays a vital role among these factors with a mean value of 4.02. Despite the fact that lower performance in CRM is the highly negative factor in marketing of kettuvallam tourism with lowest mean value of 1.98.

Findings

[1] Majority of the kettuvallam entrepreneurs are male. [2] Majority of the kettuvallam entrepreneurs are comes under the age group of 60-70. [3] Majority of the kettuvallam entrepreneurs are engaged in the field of kettuvallam tourism from 5 to 7 years followed by people with more than 10 years’ experience which clearly indicate that the profitability in long run. [4] Majority of the entrepreneurs have only one kettuvallam. And uses own fund for the construction and renovation of the cruise ship. [5] Sole proprietor is the common form of entrepreneur in the field of kettuvallam. And majority of the entrepreneur’s using own kettuvallam than rental and lease. [6] Financial factors tends to have a negative approach in entrepreneurs of kettuvallam due to huge capital investment and source of finance. Which express that Kettuvallam is not suitable under the category of micro business. It is suitable to small and medium term enterprises. [7] Entrepreneurs have negative approach on repair and maintenance expenses of kettuvallam, insurance premium and its registration formalities. Although entrepreneurs satisfied with licence fees. [8] Activities of tour operators are the major marketing factor in kettuvallam tourism than individual promotion and promotion of government agencies. [9] Problem of poor CRM exist. [10] Majority of the entrepreneurs recommend kettuvallam as an investment avenue for entrepreneurship to the upcoming entrepreneurs.

Suggestions

[1] Promote women entrepreneurs to the kettuvallam tourism [2] Simplify registration procedures and could take measures for avoiding the delay in supply of registration certificates. [3] Promote younger generation to the kettuvallam tourism through various schemes and policies. [4] If kettuvallam tourism is included in MSME it could be more beneficial to the incubators.

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[5] Marketing become more powerful if entrepreneurs take initiative steps for implementing CRM

Conclusion

Investment in tourism sector not only mean for steady return it is also a business and profit as the return. Moreover it create employment opportunity to the local people, craft man, fisherman etc. Investment in kettuvallam for the purpose of starting a new ventures is a highly potential business in now a days. Younger generation and women entrepreneurs have lot of opportunity in kettuvallam tourism. However some limitations are existed in this business like any other business such huge capital, marketing problem and seasonal variation. Although these are avoidable with effective planning and control mechanism.

REFERENCES

a. Jacob, R., Kuruvilla, A., Mahadevan, P., & Kuruvilla, A. (2011). PRODUCT ATTRACTIVENESS OF KERALA HOUSE BOATS IN PROMOTING TOURISM- A PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS. THE INTERNATIONAL SOUNDS AND TASTES OF TOURISM EDUCATION, 63. b. Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Tourism: The Houseboats of Kerala—Jithendran Kokkranikal, Alison Morrison, 2002. (n.d.). Retrieved November 20, 2019, from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/146735840200400102 c. Selvakumar, V. (2011). Archaeological, Literary and Ethnographic Evidence for Traditional Boat-building in Kerala, South India. Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage, November 2011. d. George, B. P. (2007). Alleppey tourism development cooperative: The case of network advantage. The Public Sector Innovation Journal, 12(2), 1–10. e. Joseph, L. C., & Vasanthi, S. (n.d.). A STUDY ON MOTIVATING FACTORS OF THE TOURISTS ABOUT THE HOUSE BOATS SERVICES IN KUMARAKOM, ALEPPEY DISTRICT. f. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. (n.d.). Promoting foreign investment in tourism. 78. g. Should we be promoting tourism sector investment? (n.d.). Retrieved December 13, 2019, from World Bank Blogs website: https://blogs.worldbank.org/psd/should-we- be-promoting-tourism-sector-investment h. tourism investment—Google Search. (n.d.). Retrieved December 13, 2019, from https://www.google.com/search?q=tourism+investment&rlz=1C1CHBF_enIN757IN7 57&oq=tourism+investment&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l7.8193j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie =UTF-8 i. Travel and Tourism investment expected to rise by 6.7% per annum over next 10 years: FICCI-YES Bank Report—The Economic Times. (n.d.). Retrieved December 13, 2019, from https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/hotels-/- restaurants/travel-and-tourism-investment-expected-to-rise-by-6-7-per-annum-over- next-10-years-ficci-yes-bank-report/articleshow/64859606.cms?from=mdr j. Travel and Tourism Investment in the Americas. (n.d.). Retrieved December 13, 2019, from WTTC website: https://www.wttc.org:443/publications/other/travel-and- tourism-investment-in-the-americas/

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k. Mathen, Dr. R. (2012). Houseboats in Kerala—Constructional Features and Environmental Issues. IOSR Journal of Environmental Science, Toxicology and Food Technology, 1(6), 31–43. https://doi.org/10.9790/2402-0163143

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