Kerala - Kochi   

Budget tourists in a spot

KOCHI: Touring an altogether new place has its own anxieties especially for foreigners. But easy access to information may help them save a lot of time.

Currently, for tourists reaching the city there are six primary sources of information about the district—the district tourist information officer attached to the Joint Director’s office of the Department of Tourism at the Ernakulam guesthouse, information counters of the State Tourism Department at Cochin International Airport and Fort Kochi, the tourism office of the union government at the Willingdon Island, the District Promotion Council office at Park Avenue and the tourist reception centre of the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation at Shanmugham Road.

Even though information assistants at these centres guide the tourists, the moot question is how a tourist visiting for the first time would know about the availability of these services.

The absence of a helpdesk for tourists at important disembarkation points like the KSRTC bus stand and railway station in the district is a major lacuna in the efforts to promote tourism.

Interestingly, the bus station and railway station in Thiruvananthapuram have tourist information centres.

The tourism counters at the international airport serves the high-spending tourists, but the same cannot be said about the budget tourists and backpackers who arrive in the city from neighbouring States using buses and trains.

These tourists would not be able to locate the information counters unless they have the brochures of the State tourism department, which are available only at the six offices and counters in the city.

To the credit of the Tourism Department, tourist guides and brochures brought out by it contains information that would help tourists to go around the place on their own.

The handbook called ‘Companion’ contains details of each district and its tourist destinations.

In its must see places in Ernakulam are—Fort Kochi, the Jew Street and synagogues of Mattancherry, Kumbalanghi, Bolghatty, Willingdon Island and the Marine Drive.

It also has detailed about the tours conducted by the KTDC and the list of authorised tour operators.

The booklet ‘The Kerala Holidaymaker’ provides a comprehensive listing of the accommodation facilities, classified Ayurveda centres and houseboat operators.

It contains the contact numbers and addresses of 75 hotels— 56 in Ernakulam, 10 in Fort Kochi, two in Nedumbassery and seven in Willingdon Island.

In the official website operated by the State Tourism Department, www.keralatourism.org, the tariffs charged at these hotels are also available.

The well-maintained and updated portal also provides the list of 54 homestays categorised into diamond, gold and silver categories.

The site gives the details of 21 places to visit in Ernakulam district and another 10 places described as featured destinations, including Bhoothathankettu, Bolghatty Palace, Chendamangalam, Cherai Beach, Fort Kochi, Kumbalanghi, Jew Street and Synagogue in Mattancherry, Hill Palace and the museum of Kerala history.

The booklet ‘Kerala Backwater Map’ gives detailed maps of the ideal backwater tourism spots spread over the districts of Alappuzha, Kollam, Kottayam, and Kochi. It elaborates the experience of a cruise through the backwaters of Kochi touching Bolghatty, Vypeen and Vallarpadam.

Another handbook ‘Essential Kerala’ lists the most attractive waterfalls, certified Ayurveda centres, historical monuments, shopping centres, cuisine, festivals, performing arts, hill stations, wildlife sanctuaries, and beaches in each district.

The following numbers would help tourists get the requisite information for touring the district: Tourism information officer–0484-2360502, tourist office (Willingdon Island)–2668352, 2661913, airport counter– 2611309, DTPC–2367334, 2383988, KTDC office–2353234.

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