Kerala Tourism invests Rs 500 crore for adventure tourism, promotion of Northern destinations
In line with its proactive efforts in the social media space, Kerala tourism’s facebook page has trumped other state tourism boards by climbing on to the top slot. The Kerala tourism facebook page attained first place in a ranking done by Facebook based on total engagement with tourists between the January 1 and December 31, 2017 time frame. The ranking comes at a time when Kerala Tourism has escalated the digital marketing budget to 15 per cent to communicate with the travel enthusiasts from across the globe in exciting ways.
This kind of engagment requires constant innovation in what the state has to offer to its travellers. For this reason, the department is focussing on adventure tourism and is outlaying various activities for the same.
Kadakampally Surendran, minister for co-operation, tourism and Devaswom, Government of Kerala affirmed this saying, “The ‘Adventure Rock Hill’ at the Jatayu Earth Centre, which is now operational for public in groups offers plethora of adventure activities to the tourists. Jatayu Earth Centre – world’s largest functional bird sculpture will be fully operational by July 4, 2018 to offer over 20 adventure activities such as paintball, archery, laser tag, rifle shooting, rock climbing and rappelling for adventure enthusiasts. Following a rigorous tourism development plan, we aim to rebrand the state as ‘The Land of Adventure’ to attract the adventure enthusiasts and the younger generation of travellers from across the world.”
While the peak season for visiting the state is mainly November to February, the Tourism Department is also chalking out plans to attract tourists round the year. And for that, the Department has pumped in almost Rs 500 crore in the area for tourism and infrastructure development.
Another area the department is looking at to promote are the the northern destinations of Kerala such as Wayanad, Kannur, Kozhikode, Thrissur, Malappuram and Palakkad. “In a bid to achieve the ambitious growth targets set by the tourism policy, the government has rolled out a mega river cruise project in North Kerala. Christened as Malanadu-Malabar Cruise, linking eight rivers and backwaters of Kannur and Kasargod districts, the Rs 325-crore tourism project will commence soon with the construction of modern boat terminals and jetties,” added Surendran.
To make sure all these activities run smoothly, the department has proposed to establish a Kerala Tourism Regulatory Authority (KTRA) which will ensure quality service for tourists and curb unhealthy practices in the tourism sector. The supreme authority would be responsible for monitoring the functioning of different stakeholders. Surendran also mentioned, “An investment cell would be formed to help potential investors, especially NRIs. The statutory body would have full legal powers to intervene and execute orders whenever there are complaints on tourist-related activities.”
The tourism department has also framed an action plan under the new Tourism Policy to promote the state as a 365 days destination.