Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Villages get a share of tourism pie Tourism Trail

S. Anil Radhakrishnan

Funds for local bodies to design, implement their own tourism projects

Picture postcard: The scenic beauty of areas like the Pozhikkara beach, near Thiruvallam in Thiruvananthapuram, can be fully exploited with the new scheme.

Thiruvananthapuram: It is the era of decentralised planning and Kerala Tourism has launched a scheme in association with the Local Self Government Department to present exciting opportunities for the villagers and the tourists alike.

Being taken up under the Village Tourism Development Project, the attempt is to allocate resources and funds to the local bodies and to entrust them with the designing and implementation of their own tourism projects. ‘My Village, A Tourism Friendly Village’ aims at promoting new tourist centres, inspiring products and innovative activities like adventure tourism within the village. Besides enabling tourists to enjoy the authentic experiences of Kerala in its hamlets, the project will provide employment opportunities for villagers. Henceforth, the local bodies can come up with tourism projects that suit the needs of their village and are sustainable. The aim is to take up tourism development at the grassroot level and attract tourists to the villages.

Development of basic amenities, expansion of village squares, promoting adventure tourism including trekking and water sports, conservation of heritage properties, enhancement of traditional industry or agro-based tourism products are eligible for support under the scheme.

Arrangements for proper waste disposal system and sanitation at the proposed tourist centre by the local body figure among the pre-requisites for sanction. Roads to tourist centres would not be eligible for financial support under the scheme.

The projects should be self-sustaining and the local bodies would be eligible for only one project in a year, said Additional Director, Tourism (Planning and Projects), U. V. Jose. Corporations would not be eligible for participating in the scheme. A committee headed by Secretary, Tourism, had been set up for prioritising the sanctioning of the projects.

Though the implementing agency is the local body, the project will be a joint venture by Kerala Tourism and the LSG Department. The maximum financial support will be 50 per cent of the cost of the project subject to a maximum of Rs. 10 lakhs. Eighty per cent of the sanctioned amount would be given by Kerala Tourism on sanctioning of the project and the remaining on completion of the project.

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