As Kerala prepares to unlock its tourism sector next month, the backwater landscape of Kottayam will have a lot more to offer than the Vembanad lake and boat rides.
Having been declared as the first model Responsible Tourism (RT) village in Kerala, Aymanam, a hamlet adjoining the internationally renowned Kumarakom, will be rolling out the welcome mats to the guests from the coming season onwards. From boat rides through its canals to walking tracks and village life to cultural experience, the local body is now ready with a host of tourism products and services that are cent percent locally owned.
As many as 118 RT units have been established in the panchayat, which seeks to establish a destination code for the local community and the visitors, and achieve self-sufficiency through tourism. Training has been imparted to 617 persons in different tourism-related activities, besides initiating waste management projects in association with the local body and the Haritha Keralam Mission.
The project envisaged a structured development of village’s interiors to maintain a balance between the guests and the local community, said K. Rupesh Kumar, Coordinator, RT Mission Kerala.
“The packages have been developed in way to ensure the local development of the panchayat, while also generating employment and staying carbon neutral to the maximum possible extent. As part of it, special tourism gramasabhas were held and to encourage visitors to participate in the community, a directory of the local tourism and cultural resources was prepared,” he said.
Based on the outcome of these special gramasabhas, the State government has now accorded administrative sanction to the boat terminal project at Cheepungal and renovation of the Valiyamadakkuzhy—a water body spread over 5.5 acres of land—for water-tourism.
The second phase of the RT project, which is soon set to take off, envisages imparting training to 400 more persons, besides monitoring and evaluating different aspects of tourism in the village.
Meanwhile, various stakeholders of the State’s village tourism sector including the house boat operators and the hospitality industry, are viewing the elevation of Aymanam as an RT destination with high expectations.
“This definitely presents an extra advantage, as development of tourism activities in Aymanam can effectively increase the length of stay of tourists by a couple of days. The fact that it stands close to Kumarakom is expected to bring in more high-end clients to the accommodation units here,” observed K. Arun Kumar, secretary, the Chamber of Vembanad Hotels and Resorts (CVHR).
