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Sailing venues: Houseboats are equipped to host business meets.

Batool Aliakbar Lehry

God’s own country just got more heavenly, with Kerala Tourism introducing a host of new initiatives.

First among these is rural tourism, which will showcase the life and culture at various rural locations and, simultaneously, benefit the local community economically. The temple town of Aranmala and the fishing village of Kumbalangi have been identifi ed for this. Home stays are also on offer. “We have almost 1,000 rooms under this option,” says M. Sivasankar, Director, Kerala Tourism.

Thenmala has been chosen as India’s first planned eco-tourism destination. An adventure zone offers activities such as an elevated walkway amongst the trees, river crossing, rock climbing and bamboo rafting. There’s even paragliding at Vagamon in Idduki district, which in fact hosts the International Paragliding Championship.

To convert the traditional off-season into an opportunity for domestic travellers, Kerala tourism has unveiled the ‘Dream Season’ (April to September), offering almost 200 packages at never-before rates. (keralatourism.org/dreamseason).

Adding to the attractions is the Grand Kerala shopping festival in December.

“The first edition had 2,195 shops, but this year almost 5,000 shops have been planned. An entire gamut of products unique to Kerala will be showcased,” says Sivasankar.

After the success of BlogCamp Kerala 2008, a bloggers’ conference held on a houseboat recently, there are efforts to seriously promote Kerala as a Meeting-Incentives-Conference-Exhibitions (MICE) destination. You can plan business meets on the beaches, hill-stations or even houseboats, which have capacity for 200 people.

The Kerala Travel Mart, which will be held from September 20–23, is designed to bring together international and domestic buyers, sellers, media and government agencies working with the State’s tourism products and services.

In December, thousands will descend on Kochi, which is a stopover for the Volvo Ocean Race. The tourism department is gearing for the excitement, with arrangements for nearly 1,000 rooms in 100 houseboats on the sea.

So, if you haven’t decided on your next vacation as yet, Kerala promises not to disappoint.

More Stories on : Tourism | Sports | Kerala

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