Already established as one of the prominent tourism destination in the country due to backwaters, Kerala Tourism is going ahead with its plans to develop more products to woo more tourists. The tourism department has taken initiatives such as Seaplane Project, Project Muziris, Home of Ayurveda and National Adventure Tourism.
According to S. Harikishore, Director, Kerala Tourism, the Seaplane project, was expected to launch in October. Implemented by Kerala Tourism Infrastructure Ltd. (KTIL), the Project offers connectivity to Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram, along with destinations like Ashtamudi, Punnamada, Kumarakom, Bolgatty and Bekal. Another project that Kerala Tourism is marketing in a big way is Muziris Heritage Project. “The objective of Project Muziris is to create awareness about the cultural distinctiveness and diversity of the legendary port of Muziris. The Muziris Heritage Site stretches from north Paravur in Ernakulam district to Kodungalloor in Thrissur district,” he said at the sideline of IATO’s convention in Kochi, adding that “more than 25 museums will be opened to appreciate the Muziris heritage”.
Kerala is also promoting Ayurveda and it launched Kerala: Home of Ayurveda in 2012. “Ayurveda’s potential in providing relaxation, rejuvenation and treatment is well-known. We are hopeful that our efforts would give a fillip to monsoon tourism with Ayurveda as its key driver,” he added. Moreover, Kerala is also promoting itself as a adventure destination. “We are planning to be more into adventure tourism through Chembra, trekking and soft adventure. This is an area in Kerala which is yet to be explored,” he added. While diversifying the tourism products, Kerala Tourism is also focusing on Responsible Tourism. “Kerala serves as a model in sustainable tourism development, and is the first state in India to implement certification programmes for ensuring the quality of products and services. Kumarakom has been named as the first responsible destination in the country,” he informed.
Meanwhile, Kerala Tourism has chosen the virtual world to launch its path-breaking new “Great Backwaters” campaign. “It is a tribute to the millions of travellers across the world who embrace technology in knowing about and visiting their favourite destinations,” Suman Billa, Secretary, Kerala Tourism, quoted as saying.
He added that Kerala witnessed about 240 per cent growth in the arrival of foreign tourists and 100 per cent increase in the arrival of domestic tourists in the last decade. Talking more about the arrival numbers, he said that 7.94 lakh foreigners arrived in 2012 as compared to 7.33 lakh in 2011. Compared to 93.88 lakh domestic tourists in 2011, 1.01 crore visited Kerala in 2012. He informed that Kerala has 766 classified homestays, 52 service villas, 60,000+ and 76 Ayurveda centres in Kerala.
