Kerala - Kochi   

Time ripe for literary, culture tourism

Staff Reporter

KOCHI : Following a slew of innovative tourism schemes in Kerala, the time seems to be ripe for literary and cultural tourism.

The State has plenty of places and personalities to be linked through conducted tours, especially in Malabar, where there are plenty of undiscovered and unspoilt destinations.

Thuriya Leisure, a member of the Dubai-based Consolidated Shipping Services Group, has made its foray into tourism. For this, it has announced Vellinnezhi in Palakkad as the `Destination experience of the year'. At a function organised in Kochi on Friday, two prominent artistes from Vellinezhi village - Kathakali maestro Kalamandalam Ramankutty Nair and percussion artiste Mattanoor Sankaran Kutty Marar were given lifetime achievement awards. The event was inaugurated by E.K. Bharat Bhusan, Principal Secretary, Tourism.

G. Unnikrishnan, director (Marketing and Public Relations) of the company, says: "during my trips to Europe, people found it hard to digest that the village had become synonymous with Kathakali. By promoting it as a literary and cultural destination, we aim to market the place. A percentage of the proceeds will go to artistes who help us in the endeavour."

Each year, the focus will be on a single destination. It will be packaged in a way that people on a tour of Malabar will spend at least a day in Vellinezhi village, visiting places, meeting artistes and interacting with them. "We hope that others too will come up with tour packages covering literary and culturally-famous places. On our part, we plan to link Kozhikode with Thalassery, Tirur, Cheruthuruthy, Vellinezhi and Kochi.

The package will be promoted in Europe, mainly Germany," he says.

In Thalassery, the guests will be given a talk on Herman Gundert, then taken to Thunchanparambu at Tirur, where they will learn more about Malayalam language, and so on. "This is because Europeans constitute a good share of tourists who visit Kerala.

Most of them are middle-aged and above, who travel south in seek of peace and knowledge. We intend to give them the right feel of Kerala and her culture," says Mr. Unnikrishnan.

Speaking at the Kochi function, Tourism Director B. Suman said Kerala became an exciting destination for investment. "A boost to tourism results in a concurrent demand for investment. Culture and tourism reinforce each other.

On their part, players in the tourism sector must ensure that the community too stands to gain from tourism ventures."

Managing Director of KTDC M.N. Gunavardhan said all corporate and other companies should have social commitment.

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