New Kerala tourism chief targets rich tourists

thiruvananthapuram: wanting to take kerala tourism from `budget' tourists to upmarket customers __ both ethnic and overseas, the new kerala tourism development (ktdc) chief padmaja venugopal, has drawn up a wish-list to be implemented soon. venugopal, incidentally the only daughter of congress veteran k. karunakaran, has initiated the first step by tying-up with the indian railway catering and tourism corporation to reserve one bogie exclusively for tourists in major trains from four directions of the country.to begin with, the first such tourism coach is to be attached to the netravati express via konkan railway. the ktdc chairperson told the times of india that she had received encouraging feedbacks from keralites in the uk during the recent world tourism mart that they would be willing to collaborate to establish an air connectivity, preferably helicopter, linking "must-see" locations of the state. the transportation service is considered arduous and poor. another project in the pipeline is setting up a convention centre __ a kerala cuisine corner in star hotels and resorts, a shopping destination network, ayurveda treatment centres in the ktdc-run hotels and motels and promoting tender coconuts among the overseas visitors at the capital thiruvananthapuram. though kerala attracts foreign tourists, it has been noted that budget tourists with a shoe-string purse flock tourism destinations which neither helps the state treasury nor the locals. padmaja said she would, however, not try to push too many things and leave unfinished most of them. each would be taken up and executed to make kerala the tourism destination of the world, she added.