‘Tourism Master Plan’ to boost Wayanad Tourism
Wayanad is unique for its lush greenery and serene environment. Considered as one of the best tourist spots in Kerala and South India, it attracts a great number of tourists every year. However, the flow of visitors to the destination is less compared to the other famous spots in Kerala. So, the Tourism Department is preparing a tourist master plan which will improve the tourism sector of Wayanad and will lead to its overall expansion.
The master plan is set in a way that will supply the needs of the destination till 2050. The first step of the master plan is to carry out discussion forums involving people from different sectors of life. The discussion that will be done in several rounds will also cover the area of investment on the destination. The authorities believe investments will be limited due to the atypical state of the land.
As per the reports of tourism department, only 8,995 foreign tourists visited Wayanad in 2017. The statistics are shocking when taking the popularity of the destination into account. Whereas, the number of foreign tourists to Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi recorded 4.20 lakh and 4.53 lakh in 2017. The case isn’t different in the case of domestic travellers. 8.15 lakh tourists visited Wayanad last year, while Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi had visitors of around 24 lakh and 32 lakh respectively.
“There are a lot of issues prevailing in Wayanad. The tourism master plan will address all the issues hindering development in the district. The project is still in its early stage. We have just started its preparation. We will consider every minute detail while preparing the project,” said B Anand, Secretary, DTPC. He finds connectivity as a major problem that hamper the tourism development of the region. “Connectivity is a major problem. Even if a tourist comes to Wayanad, it is not easy for him to move from one destination to the other. The coming up of an airport in Kannur will bring in more scope and possibilities. A slew of projects are progressing here at Wayanad. Developmental activities are on the go. We will attract more visitors in the coming years,” he added.
