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, said Kerala Tourism Minister P A Mohamed Riyas while unveiling the policy which offers attractive investment subsidy to Caravan operators. The project will be rolled out in the next few months. On the occasion, the minister also unveiled the logo of Caravan Tourism.
“Like other successful tourism products of Kerala launched since 1990s, Caravan Tourism is also to be developed on PPP mode with private investors, tour operators and local communities being key stakeholders,” Riyas said at a press conference here.
He said investment subsidy would be given to Caravan operators, the details of which would be announced soon. Caravan Tourism will also promote Responsible Tourism activities for sustainable growth and for the benefit of the local communities, promote eco-friendly practices and market for local products.
“The policy envisages laying down the broad framework for the development and encouragement of Caravan Tourism in Kerala, predominantly in the private sector through incentivizing the purchase of caravans and for establishing caravan parks, chalking out the process and procedures for its operations and approvals,” the minister added.
“Caravan Tourism imparts an added thrust to the State’s inclusive approach of leveraging the tourism potential of the entire state by bringing to attention many an unexplored spot side-by-side the promotion of established destinations. Every unexplored destination can be made accessible with the roll out of this meticulously drawn up policy,” said Dr Venu V, Additional Chief Secretary, Kerala Tourism.
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.
“Going by Kerala’s inherent strengths of natural beauty and tourism friendly-culture, Caravan Tourism has immense scope for the state. Besides offering a refreshing experience for the tourists, local communities stand to gain substantially by enabling them to showcase their culture and products before the visitors,” said V R Krishna Teja, Director, Kerala Tourism.
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 tourism caravans will have all the necessary facilities for a comfortable stay such as sofa-cum-bed, kitchenette with fridge and microwave oven, dining table, toilet cubicle, partition behind the driver, Air-conditioner, internet connectivity, audio-video facilities, charging system and GPS.
