Social and sociological tourism and related developments

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Social tourism relates to journeys undertaken by people with limited financial means, and whose travel is subsidized and for whom special concession and facilities are provided. In Kerala beaches and other tourist destinations are now witnessing increasing numbers of tourists with small and medium incomes because almost all the small and mediocre companies have now started offering ample subsidies to their employees to travel to distant places of tourist interest. It helps these people to gain more knowledge and a better insight into the societies and the way of life of the people living in distant places.

Sociological tourism, on the other hand, deals with journeys undertaken to visit friends, acquaintances or relations as well as journeys undertaken for reasons of social prestige or as a status symbol. This last factor has considerable importance in many societies and especially in a state like Kerala, and particularly among the more affluent ones. For people with additional incomes, traveling to distant places is now a new found fad.

To attract and retain skilled employees, many of the prominent firms now offer enough incentives which allow an employee to travel free of cost to visit his near and dear ones. The media has pictured this form of tourism as the sociological tourism. This trend is now being increasingly assimilated by all the prominent firms. The employees also get back to work totally energized. The emphasis for such vocations has resulted in phenomenal rise in sociological and related forms of travel.

In Kerala until recent times, the society wore a traditional look. Gone are those days when the typical malayalee was mostly confined to the four walls of his home. Today, with the advent of globalization, the Kerala society has undergone a sea change. The traditional way of life and the approach taken towards different issues has been given a decent burial. Tourism is now a sunrise sector in Kerala and people travel more than ever before.