Kerala to develop 100 rural tourism hubs, says Minister

Minister for Tourism P.A. Mohamed Riyas has said the State government would take the Destination Challenge project forward with greater strength.

Speaking after inaugurating the Karamala children’s adventure park at Tarur, near here, on Saturday, Mr. Riyas promised that the State Tourism department would give all support to local self-governments in identifying and developing more destinations.

“Kerala stands out as India’s sole representative on Time Magazine’s prestigious list of 50 must-visit tourist destinations across the world,” he said.

He said the Destination Challenge would mark a major milestone in unlocking Kerala’s hidden tourism potential by developing uncharted destinations in rural areas.

With the Tourism department shouldering a substantial portion of the funding and local self-governments contributing the rest, this initiative is poised to give birth to hundreds of new tourist hubs across Kerala, said the Minister.

He said the government planned to develop tourist hubs in 100 villages, with around 70 projects already approved and in progress. “We recently identified five new destinations, and five more will be completed by October.”

The Minister said that Karamala had emerged as a notable tourist destination. The Tourism department and Tarur grama panchayat have invested ₹50 lakh and ₹33.5 lakh respectively for the development of Karamala park.

PP Sumod, MLA, presided over the function. District Panchayat Vice-PresIDent CK Chamunni, Authur Block Panchayat President Rajani Babu, Vice-PresIDent KC Binu, Tarur Panchayat President E. Ramani and Vice-PresIDent I. Shaker Spoke.