The possibilities of destination wedding in the State will be tapped, Minister for Tourism P.A. Mohamed Riyas has said.
Replying to questions on plans for transforming the State into India’s tourism hub during the Question Hour in the Assembly on Tuesday, Mr. Riyas said while Rajasthan was a popular destination for such weddings, Kerala too had good potential.
Plans needed to be drawn up to ready centres for destination weddings. Hilly regions of the State, particularly, could be very popular, even for large family groups, he said. Special projects were being prepared for development of current destinations, the Minister added.
A KIIFB (Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board) project would be implemented for development of Kovalam. “This project will relaunch Kovalam on the tourism map,” Mr. Riyas said. Such projects would be implemented in other tourism centres too.
New projects, including literary circuit and biodiversity circuit, were in the making. Helicopter tourism, food tourism, cruise tourism, and Spices Route would attract more tourists. Village tourism, cultural tourism, festival tourism, agri tourism, and varius streets would facilitate the transformation of the State into a tourism hub, he said.
To market the State as a destination, a micro-marketing plan to attract domestic travellers, whose numbers were on the increase, in eight States was being formulated. Media marketing campaign to promote Kerala in local languages of respective States were also being drawn up.
The government was also considering special campaigns for promotion of backwater tourism, the Minister said.
The possibilities of heritage tourism—particularly in Malappuram that has seen the biggest numbers for domestic tourists in the first quarter of the year since the distict was formed—and of the trekking trend would be explored.
A Wayanad flower festival based on the model of that in Ooty was under consideration. Travel marts to promote domestic tourism and development of Malampuzha tourism would be discussed.
On improving access to destinations, the Minister said careful attention should be paid to roads to tourist destinations. Similarly, development of destinations under various departments would be discussed with them, he said.
