Travel Industry Experiences Vigorous Blossoming

Kannur: The travel and tourism industry now experiences a vigorous blossoming with the spirit of globalization adding new hopes and aesthetic demands to the mental life of people. Annual travel to distant abodes of natural beauty or places of religious or historical importance has become almost a ritual to many. “Nowadays, travel is the only area of human activity wherein one can involve wholeheartedly as politics, social work and even literature and art lost their old truthfulness and charm,” observes Rajesh, a frequent long-distance traveler residing in a hillside village in Kannur.  Tour clubs and agencies offering package tours have mushroomed even in villages across the state. The spirit of travel has gripped people of all classes that many family budgets are now prepared to make ample allocation for saving for the annual tour.

 Tour operators, including those who emerged in the cooperative sector, offering domestic and international group tour packages are making a good business. A pioneer in the field in cooperative sector Swapna Theeram, operating under Muzhappilangad Service Cooperative Bank here, has been offering such packages since 2008. All their domestic tour packages like Delhi-Agra student tour, Rajasthan, Shimla-Manali, Goa, Hyderabad, Gangtok-Darjeeling-Kolkata and Uttaranchal-Himachal and Kashmir packages have been a big hit. Recently they have rolled out foreign packages connecting Vietnam, Dubai, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Nepal, Bhutan and Thailand which attract tourists from across the state. Swapna Theeram managed by a team of youngsters conducts a pilot study in potential tourism resorts within the country and overseas before introducing a package to ensure cost-effective journeys. The team has a traveling kitchen that prepares food for itineraries within the nation. "An average of 2,000 people travel with us every year and the annual revenue is around Rs 1.5 crore. The packages cost from Rs 5,000 to Rs 70,000 per head. We ensure two-star or three-star accommodation everywhere. Now, we are preparing to cover entire European destinations,” says Shijin P, manager, of Swapna Theeram.

  Touring teams with special interests have also evolved of late. Unlike the tours promoted by agencies, these groups journey to different regions and engage in cultural exchanges with similar groups in other parts of the country and pave way for national integration in its true sense. Cultural Colleagues, a team comprising 40 travelers from various parts of Malabar, published ‘Kandetukkatha Parudeesakal’ (Undiscovered Paradises) a book of their travel experience in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Nagaland.  Bipul Regon, an Assamese poet attended the book releasing function held in Kozhikode along with an Assamese travel group.   

  The Centre for Historical and Geographical Studies at Ezhome in Kannur which began explorative journeys in 1980s when the travel and tourism industry was in its infancy has been serving as a trendsetter in the region. “Thousands of people have become part of our tours. Initially, our tours were domestic, but recently people show much interest in visiting foreign countries. So far we conducted 120 tours and we could travel across Asia and Europe. The expense involved is Rs 10,000 per head for tours in India and Rs 1.25 lakh to Rs 2 lakh for overseas journeys” says K Kumaran Master, the principal organizer of the centre. 

Kumaran Master at the Centre for Historical and Geographical Studies, Ezhome

“We visit places of historical importance and geographical peculiarities thus earning a name in the field as a responsible institutiongiving a new meaning to travel and tourism. Moreover, we have prepared a comprehensive data of destinations around the world which many clubs and individuals are now making use,” Kumaran Master added.

The emergence of touring clubs in villages has become an evolving trend across Malabar. Sudhi, a member of Touring Club, Kayanna, Peramabra, Kozhikode, said that his club comprising 17 families was founded six years ago and each and every member of the family save some amount every month for the annual tour. He said that the group availed services of tour facilitators to reduce expense since the operator arrange all facilities, including food and accommodation.  

 The New Indian Express 18 May 2015