Category: Kerala

The century-old boathouse at the end of the Parvathy Puthanar  at Vallakkadavu in Thiruvananthapuram to feature a biodiversity museum, established by the Kerala State Biodiversity Board (KSBB). Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the museum on June 5 to coincide with the World Environment Day. A major highlight of the museum will be the Science on a Sphere (SOS) spherical projection system, the first-of-its-kind in the State, which has been developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in US.It will provide real-time data of climatic parameters, and will also act as an educational tool that projects their correlation with biodiversity. The ... Read more

Kadakampally Surendran, Minister for Tourism, Cooperation and Devaswoms, has welcomed Indian Medical Association (IMA) president Dr Ravi Wankadekar’s statement that Kerala has nothing to worry about the Nipah virus scare and that the state is absolutely safe from the virus. Stating that Kerala is indeed a safe destination, Kadakampally Surendran said that around 300 doctors who have arrived to Kerala from various parts of India for the IMA conference organised in Kovalam stands testimony to this. The arrival of the renowned doctors to Kerala has immense significance, he said. The Minister also conveyed his salutations to the doctors who have ... Read more

In what can be called a huge relief to Keralites, IMA President Dr Ravi Wankedekar, who is in Kerala for the IMA conference, has stated that the Nipah virus outbreak doesn’t hold any threat in Kerala. Lauding the doctors in Kerala who had been prompt enough to spot the virus as soon as it appeared, Dr Wankedekar said that the Kerala government and the healthcare agencies did a great job by putting up resistance to the virus. Though the doctors didn’t have any forewarning or experience about the virus, they were able to detect the virus and act fast to ... Read more

The much-awaited Neelakurinji (Strobilanthes Kunthiana) season is almost here in Kerala and the state is expecting over 800,000 travellers to visit the picturesque hill station during July -October 2018 period. The Neelakurinji flowers will blossom after 12 years across the hills of Munnar in Idukki district during these months. Neelakurinji is commonly found across the Western Ghats,and had flourished previously in 2006. Munnar has the largest concentration of the Strobilanthes out of the 46 varieties found in India. The mass flowering of Neelakurinji will begin in July for next three months, and will paint the hills blue. “There is no ... Read more

The Kerala Tourism has come up with the ‘Come Out and Play’ campaign in a way to lure the domestic tourists to Kerala during monsoon season. The state will gift the tourists a chance to revive nature, rekindle relationships, and reconnect with life by involving in activities like trekking, Ayurveda massage, river rafting more. The tourism department aims at bringing tourists from powerful domestic markets like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi & NCR, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal. As per Tourism Director P Balakiran IAS, the campaign primarily concentrates on ‘PLAY’ with accordance ... Read more

Followed by the successful implementation of Responsible Tourism in some of the destinations in the state, the RT Mission is all set to develop eight more RT model villages across Kerala. Also, the People’s Participation for Participatory Planning and Empowerment through Responsible Tourism (PEPPER), an innovative integrated tourism project of the RT Mission that ensures whole-hearted participation of the people in the particular locality, will be extended to 10 more centres. At present RT is implemented in Kovalam, Kumarakom, Thekkady, Vythiri, Ambalavayal, Bakel and Kumbalangi. The RT Mission is planning to implement the same in Poovar, Dharmadom, Fort Kochi, Varkala, Muhamma and Alappuzha this fiscal. These ... Read more

NIPAH virus attack continues to trouble even though there aren’t much casualties or new infections reported. The tourism industry is one which is suffering on the onset of this virus attack. Though the incidents induced an uncertainty in the minds of travellers, the tourists haven’t cancelled or postponed their trips to Kerala. However, still there is some news circulating which is discouraging the travellers. “Initially the tourists had concerns about the virus attack. It feels like a negative propaganda to weaken the tourism industry. The tourism industry is doing fine and some media are making the news in a way ... Read more

The NIPAH virus attack has been creating quite a stir in Kerala. However, many false rumours are spreading on light of the virus attack. The most important of that being advising people not to travel to Kerala. Many are trying to project the virus attack as a major outbreak in Kerala and this will ultimately affect the tourism industry as many will restrain from travelling to Kerala. However, Confederation of Kerala Tourism Industry (CKTI) conveyed that the virus attack has been projected in a larger way than the truth and assured Kerala is still a safe place to visit and ... Read more

The next edition of the Malabar Kayaking Championship will be held at Meenthullipara, Pulikkayam and Arippara in Kerala’s Calicut district from July 18 to 22. The championship is being organised by the District Tourism Promotion Council, Kozhikode District Panchayat, Thiruvambadi and Kodencherry panchayats and Madras Fun Tools. Two-time world extreme kayaking champion Joe Morley from the United Kingdom, 2012 London Olympics finalist Mike Dawson from New Zealand and noted kayaker from Italy Max Benetton were the big names featured in the previous years. Comprising an international kayaking championship, kayaking training programmes and rafting sessions, the Malabar River Festival is organised ... Read more

Kerala’s serene hill stations, backwaters and beaches have been attracting tourists from all over the world. The tourism department’s efforts have always been to make Kerala as an ideal destination for Bollywood flicks. However, what always happen is that the directors end up in using the abandoned, fear-injecting guest houses and bungalows for the horror flicks. Finally, the tourism department has decided to put an end to this and promote these destinations in a proper way. As of now, the guest houses are mainly used by the government officials and local tourists. The tourism department’s plan is to make foreign ... Read more

Jatayu Nature Park, one of the most anticipated tourism projects in Kerala, is all set to open its door for the public on July 4, said Kadakampally Surendran, Minister for Tourism, Kerala.  The park, which was slated to be inaugurated officially on May 23rd, began its partial operation in the Adventure Rock Hill back in December 2017. The park situated at a whopping 65 acres of land holds the distinction of having the world’s first functional sculpture. It is also India’s first fully fenced park with all safety measures ensured for the visitors. The park also features 4 features and ... Read more

Kerala tourism is targeting up to 15 per cent growth in number of tourist arrivals in 2018. The state witnessed overall growth of 10.94 per cent in tourist arrivals in 2017. Domestic tourists were up by 11.39 per cent, while the number of foreign tourists increased by 5.1 per cent in the period. “We are looking at an overall growth of up to 15 per cent in total number of tourist arrivals to the state in 2018. We are looking at a growth of 15 per cent rise in domestic tourists and 10 per cent rise in foreign tourist arrivals,” said P ... Read more

  Laurels are always in rhyme with Kerala Tourism. Now, Kerala has been voted as the best Indian destination for families by world’s largest travel magazine Lonely Planet. Kerala was selected as the best Indian destination for families through an online poll conducted among the readers of the magazine. The award was received today by the Tourism Director Balakiran IAS at an award function held at St. Regis Hotel, Mumbai. This is the second time Kerala is winning this award, the first one coming in 2016. Kerala won the ‘Best Destination for Romance’ for Munnar in last year’s Lonely Planet ... Read more

Jatayu Nature Park is one of the most anticipated tourism projects in Kerala. The park began its partial operation as the Adventure Rock Hill was opened in December 2017. The fully functional park was set to open on May 23rd, but the inauguration has been shifted on grounds of Chengannur by-election set for May 28th. As per reports, the park will be open within the second week of June. The park situated at a whopping 65 acres of land holds the distinction of having the world’s first functional sculpture. It is also India’s first fully fenced park with all safety ... Read more

One the historically important destinations in Kerala, the Kappad beach, has been shortlisted by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) for the prestigious Blue Flag certification. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has launched pilot project ‘Blue Flag’ to develop and enhance standards of cleanliness on beaches. The ‘Blue Flag’ is a certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) that a beach, Marina or sustainable boating tourism operator, meets its stringent standards. Its purpose is to enhance standards of cleanliness, upkeep and basic amenities at beaches. Kappad is the only beach that was selected from the ... Read more