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Moulding perfect hosts
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There are options aplenty for tourists to halt in the city when some of the new projects become a reality, says ANAND HARIDAS.
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KOCHI IS evolving a new paradigm in tourism development. Even while those in the industry are pointing out that the city is being relegated as a `gateway' and not a destination per se, the focus of development works is being shifted from a faceless bureaucrat sitting in a distant office to the man next door.
Leading from the front is the sleepy village of Kumbalanghi, on the outskirts of Kochi. Its ascend to hall of fame was brisk. In no time, people started pouring in, and lo, it is the `first integrated tourism village.' The State tourism department has earmarked Rs.1.5 crores for the first phase of development in the village and a two-member team from the United Nations Development Project has completed a visit to study the work there. More funds are being queued.
What makes the Kumbalanghi Integrated Tourism Village Project different from the other State-funded ventures is that the panchayat members have done the entire implementation process of the project. All the 13 panchayat members were asked to prepare plans for a sustainable development of the infrastructure like organic agriculture, sanitation, environment, marketing ethnic food, handicrafts and culture, heritage and preservation of buildings, fishing, drainage, drinking water, zero waste management, mangrove conservation, beautification of the area, boating and finally, use of non-conventional energy sources.
Another success story from the suburbs of Kochi is the Cherai beach. The District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) has taken up the beautification and conversion of this five-kilometre beach to a prime tourist destination as its prestigious project. As a first step in this direction, one kilometre of the beach has been touched up. The work, done at an estimate of around Rs. 50 lakhs, features a walk-way along the beach, elaborate parking space, food courts, beach benches, umbrellas and three high-mast lamps for lighting up the area. Equipments like water scooter was also available for some time, before the rough sea during the monsoon, forced it to be taken away. If the DTPC officials have their way, the two water scooters will soon be back at Cherai. Their goal? "Creating a beach of international standards, like the one in Miami."
Again, the local public has welcomed the tourism project whole-heartedly. It is generating job opportunities for the youth. A batch of 35 volunteers was trained in providing hospitality and first-aid and deployed at the beach recently. The batch was selected from 60 applicants from the neighbourhood, aged between 13 and 30.
Taking a cue from Cherai, beaches along the coast of Kochi are gearing up for the big boom ahead. With the Fort Kochi beach fast vanishing, the crowd is on the lookout for new destinations, preferably fresh and calm.
For the last three years, the local community at Puthuvype beach has been organising carnivals to welcome the New Year. That the carnival has more into it than just being a New Year party is evident from what the organisers call it, `Puthuvype Beach Tourism Mela.'
On the anvil are proposals for a Rs. 200 crore project for development of pilgrim centres of Kalady and Malayatoor and the completion of an eco-tourism triangle connecting Kodanad and a Rs. 50 lakh-project to convert Mangalavanam to an eco-friendly tourist destination. The tour circuit touching these three points, Kalady, Malayatoor and Kodanad, was suggested way back in 1989. K. G. Mohanlal, former District Forest Officer, Malayatoor and later the director of Eco-Tourism, remembers, "there is a potential of forming one major circuit that starts from Kochi, covers Irinjole Kavu at Perumbavoor, Bhootathankettu, Mahogany plantation and churches at Malayatoor, the elephant kraal at Kodanad and pilgrim points at Kalady and returns by the end of the day and two minor circuits concentrating on detail visits to spots like Malayatoor or cultural points like traditional houses and related places."
The signs are clear. Kochi, as the tourism officials believe, will have many options open for a tourist who decides to stay back and not just touchdown and move ahead. And everywhere, he will find hosts, trained and equipped.
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