Trivandrum: Rising to the demands and preferences of tourists in the post-pandemic world, Kerala today announced a comprehensive, stakeholder-friendly Caravan Tourism Policy, promising the visitors a safe, customized and closest-to-nature travel experience.
“This marks a paradigm shift in almost three decades after the state made it big with houseboat tourism that provided a unique experience to visitors and positioned the state as a major global destination,” Tourism Minister, Shri P A Mohamed Riyas said while unveiling the policy which offers attractive investment subsidy to Caravan operators. “Like other successful tourism products of Kerala launched since the 1990s, Caravan Tourism is also to be developed on PPP mode with private investors, tour operators and local communities being key stakeholders.”
Investment subsidy would be given to Caravan operators, the details of which would be announced soon. The project will be rolled out in the next few months.
The two major components of this activity are Tourism Caravans and Caravan Parks. While the first involves specially-built vehicles for travel, leisure and stay, the Caravan Parks are designated places to park the vehicles and enable the visitors to spend a night or a day or station for an extended period to explore the destination.
There will be two types of caravans. In one model, two guests shall be accommodated, while the other is for a family of four members. The caravan parks are to be developed in the private sector, public sector or in the joint sector. The configuration of parks will vary from location to location, even though the fundamental attributes remain the same.
A caravan park will be a completely safe and secure zone offering a hassle-free and stress-free environment to tourists, protected with necessary features like compound walls, adequate security and safety arrangements, patrolling and surveillance cameras. The Park authorities will maintain effective coordination with local authorities and medical establishments to attend to medical emergencies. The parks will have Tourist Facilitation Centres to inform the visitors of amenities and services available.
Dr Venu V, Additional Chief Secretary, Tourism and V R Krishna Teja, Director, Tourism, were present.
Kerala Biz News
Promo Video (Courtesy: Kerala Tourism)