The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Kerala Tourism projecting Malabar’s charms

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Friday, Sep 21, 2007
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Kerala Tourism projecting Malabar’s charms

Special Correspondent

Efforts on to woo professionals from Bangalore

— Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

CAPTIVATING: A Kathakali artiste performing at a roadshow held by Kerala Tourism in Bangalore on Wednesday.

BANGALORE: The God’s Own Country sobriquet has not grown stale and our neighbouring State’s many natural attractions have been praised by among others the National Geographic and former Beatle Paul McCartney.

Kerala Tourism’s efforts are now to invite stressed-out professionals of Bangalore to a region close to us, but not quite on the regular tourist’s map. And that is the northern region of Malabar, which has little-explored wilderness with ample scope for trekking, camping and photography, or just for plain chilling out, as Kerala Tourism’s Director Sanjay Kaul said at a roadshow here on Wednesday.

In a departure from the usual road shows from assorted tourism corporations, this one featured live entertainment in the form of of mohiniyattam, kathakali, tiruvathirakali and kalaripayattu.

Kerala’s traditional art forms have been enriched by over the years by both the patronage of local rulers, influence of other dance and music schools of the region and the increasing exposure to audiences across India and overseas. Add to all this, the varied landscape from the placid backwaters to mountains and wildlife sanctuaries and ayurveda spas and you have a heady cocktail which even the most blasé of work travellers would admit provide a memorable experience.

Kerala Tourism’s Secretary V. Venu even has the statistics ready to prove a point: revenue from tourism grew from Rs. 2,000 crore in 2000 to Rs. 9,176 crore last year and forex earnings steadily grew since 2001 to Rs. 1988 crores by 2006.

The number of international tourists coming to Kerala increased by 105 per cent to 4.25 lakh persons between 2001 and 2006.

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