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George Iype in Thiruvananthapuram

The Left Democratic Front government in Kerala is opening up the state’s tourism trade to private sector by focussing on ethnic festivals, ayurvedic rejuvenation centres, monsoon holidays and backwater house boats.

Tourists from the United States, Austria, Germany and Finland are expected to visit Kerala in chartered flights as part of a ten-day package of ayurveda and eco-tourism holidays. The project is being promoted by the Dubai-based Malayazhma Resorts India.

The government has also awarded a number of beach, backwater and hill resort projects to corporate players in the hospitality sector like the Mahindras, the Tatas and the Oberoi.

Resorts will open up in and around the historical Bakel fort in the Malabar region in north Kerala. The hilly and serene Wayanad district, bordering Karnataka, is being developed as a tourist destination with hill stations, wildlife centres and forest resorts. Travellers can stay in houses built on trees.

The Kappad beach in Kozhikode where Vasco Da Gama landed in 1492, is being sought to be converted into a tourist attraction. A number of health rejuvenation resorts and ayurvedic centres are coming up there.

The Kerala Tourism Development Corporation has completed building 40 English-type cottages at a cost of Rs 70 million in Munnar hill station. It is surrounded by some of the largest tea gardens in the country.

Similar water-based and hill resort projects are coming up across Kerala. State minister for tourism, E Chandrashekharan Nair, said this place offers a unique eco-tourism destination what with its rich wildlife, virgin beaches and spectacular art forms and handicrafts.

“We are opening up the state’s immense tourism potential to private players to ensure that Kerala becomes Asia’s biggest eco-tourism destination of the next millennium,” Nair told rediff.com. “These are going to be some of the finest eco-tourism projects in the world as it blends nature with tourism.”

“Kerala is the greenest state in the country. However, only a very small percentage of the state’s potential for tourism, especially for the foreign travellers, has so far been exploited,” he said. “Tourism will not damage our environment as manufacturing does.”

The government’s plans to attract international tourists to Kerala received a boost recently when the prestigious National Geographic Traveler, categorised the state as “a paradise” recommending it as one of the 50 must-see destinations in the world.

However, the minister said the government’s move is not to allow private sector participation without any rules and regulations. “We are treating the private players as equal partners. But we are telling them that that they have to play a responsible role in enhancing efficiency and better services to become environment-friendly in their pursuit of promoting tourism,” he stated.

According to officials in the ministry of tourism, the biggest advantage for Kerala to lure the foreign traveller is that the state is strategically located midway on the tourist trade corridor connecting Europe to Pacific rim.

Thus to attract the foreign travellers, the government will soon launch Kerala Tourism On-Line, a comprehensive Website that would provide bookings for hotels, boats, and travel services on-line. The site being developed at a cost of Rs 5 million will be kicked off soon.

According to the state government records, Kerala registered an eight per cent growth in tourist arrivals last year with 3.5 million domestic tourists visiting the state.

Officials said the state government has also written to the Centre to come out with a special tourism project to promote “the emerald triangle comprising Kerala, Goa and Lakshadweep in the global markets”.

But to ensure that the private-public partnership in tourism goes full stream, the government has planned a series of tourism promotion campaigns in and outside the country.

The government will soon tie up with private firms to launch a marketing blitzkrieg and roads shows in major north Indian cities, an exclusive monsoon and aryurveda promotion campaign in the Gulf countries and eco-tourism campaigns in the United States, Europe and the South East Asian countries.

The state government will also participate at an international tourism fair at London in November.

The government has formed a taskforce to spell out the need for transparent procedures for pre-qualification and competitive bidding wherever the private sector is invited to invest in tourism activities. The Kerala tourism department, the Central government’s department of tourism, representatives of the hospitality industry, travel and tour operators, representatives of major airlines are members of the taskforce.

The task force has been entrusted with preparation of a master plan for Kerala to aggressively pursue the tourism industry in the state.

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