The Responsible Tourism Mission has introduced a story-telling package for visitors. The initiative envisages narrating stories, including folk tales and myths relating to each village destination in Kottayam, to tourists.
The project is being implemented through a batch of 16 community tour leaders, who have undergone sessions on language and storytelling.
“They are trained in narrating stories about the local communities and their traditions. For instance, if the visitors are in Vaikom, they will be told about the history of the temple town and the epic struggle against untouchability, whereas in Kumarakom, it could be about Alphred George Baker and the king of erstwhile Travancore,” explained K. Roopesh Kumar, coordinator, RT Mission.
The package, implemented on a pilot basis at Kumarakom and Vaikom, will soon be extended to other districts.
Meanwhile, the authorities have identified 186 houses in different parts of the district, from Kumarakom to Kanjirappally and Changanassery, which will offer ethnic delicacies to the visitors. The programme envisages serving the tourists with the specialty food of different locations, besides offering them an opportunity to be part of the cooking process. A website listing the houses that are part of the package, their location, and the delicacies they offer will be hosted by end of the month.
After virus scare
The new packages are being introduced at a time when the backwater tourism sector looks to bounce back from the commotion triggered by the coronavirus scare. “In view of the massive cancellation of bookings, the resorts along with other industry stakeholders approached the Tourism Minister through the Tourism Department and apprised him of the ground reality. Now that the government has withdrawn the State emergency for nCoV, things have begun to get back on track,” said K. Arun Kumar, secretary, Chamber of Vembanad Hotels and Resorts.
