“That soil has a vibration.” These words coming from V.K.T. Balan, an experienced tour operator from Chennai, may well be an advertisement for Wayanad tourism.
Mr. Balan was entranced by the natural beauty of the land. He was impressed by the cleanliness of Sulthan Bathery town and is determined to propose it as a model at the Tamil Nadu Tourism Advisory Committee, of which he is a member.
Mr. Balan was part of the 40-member contingent of tour operators from across the country, who had come to north Kerala as part of the ‘Fam 2 Malabar 500’ programme of the Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala.
Speaking to reporters at Markaz Knowledge City in Kozhikode on the last day of the four-day tour, Mr. Balan admitted that Wayanad forced him to rethink the general perception that a place with no airport or railway station and poor road connectivity could not be a tourist destination.
The other tour operators with him, from Delhi, Mumbai, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu, too have started considering the destinations in north Kerala for future packages. “It is a new route, and it needs to be explored,” said John Francis, another of the 16-member group from Chennai.
This is the second edition of the Fam 2 Malabar 500 programme, which aims to bring 500 tour operators from other States as well as foreign countries to north Kerala over a period of six months aiming to showcase the rather unexplored destinations. The programme also focuses on wellness tourism and hence Tigris Valley, the holistic wellness centre, which is part of Markaz Knowledge City, has been included.
The tour was flagged off from Payyanur by Kadannappally Ramachandran, MLA, on February 28. They visited the Arakkal Palace, Kannur Fort, and Muzhappilangad Beach and had a city tour, besides watching a Theyyam performance. The team also visited a farmstead near Payyannur and Kunhimangalam, the village known for manufacture of bronze and brass artefacts.
They also had first-hand experience of the folk and handloom culture of Kannur and visited Beedi manufacturing units.
In Wayanad, they visited the Pazhassi Raja Memorial and Banasura Sagar reservoir and watched cultural performances by tribal artistes. In Kozhikode, they had a brief stint at a Kalari centre, Puthiyappa beach, and a city tour.
The tour was coordinated by Wayanad Chamber of Commerce and KSA tours. The Kozhikode lap of the tour was flagged off by Mohammed Sherif, managing director, and Shahul Hameed, executive director, Tigris Valley.
