Catching the local traveller

Express News Service
First Published : 26 Aug 2009 01:36:00 AM IST
Last Updated :

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: For the best and cost-effective way to plan a Onam vacation within God’s Own Country, visit the Tourism Facilitation Centre opposite the Napier Museum.

At the Centre, eight of the State’s leading tour operators have set up a tourism help desk, where a variety of packages to some of the finest destinations in the State have been showcased as part of Kerala Tourism’s ‘Visit Kerala’ initiative. The help desk, which is open from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., will function till August 31.

This is the first time that leading tour operators, who normally deal with foreign and other-state clients, have come under a single umbrella to cater to the vacation needs of city folks. ``We have over 60 lakh tourists pouring into the State. But it is also important that resident Keralites are not alienated from their own land,’’ Tourism Director M. Shivshankar said, throwing light on the thinking behind the latest initiative.

A light budget is the biggest advantage of planning a vacation with the help of a tour operator. ``This is something people are unaware of. But the fact is, hotels, resorts and other establishments offer services to a tour operator at lower tariffs, much lower than what a client would get if he approaches the hotel or resort directly through the Net or otherwise,’’ said V.G. Jayachandran of Tour Designers.

Besides readymade packages, the tour operators will also create tailor-made packages to suit the budget and convenience of clients. ``All the tour operators here have an experience of over 20 years. We have the expertise to design the right kind of package for any kind of consumers. We also know the destination inside out and so are equipped to offer the right advice and support,’’ said Stanes Joseph, the CEO of Willsindia.

The respective tour company will take care of everything related to the tour, right from transportation to lodging. ``A client need not, for instance, worry about getting the right boat for a backwater cruise or a seat for a Onam ‘sadya’ at a high-end resort. This will save them a lot of time and headache,’’ Stanes said.

According to the tour operators, the clients will be spoiled for choice at the facilitation centre. ``Though all of us sell the same destinations, we offer it in a variety of ways. It is up to the clients to choose,’’ Jayachandran said. The package rates range from Rs 800 to Rs 16,000.

The Visit Kerala initiative is also an attempt to rev up the tourism sector during the off-season, to convert Kerala into an all-season 365-day destination. Also, the potential of domestic travellers has never been seriously tapped. The Tourism Department plans to extend the initiative to other cities like Kochi and Kozhikode.