Reviving Kerala’s soul

TIRUVANANTHAPURAM :    The scenic backwaters of the state comprising serene stretches of  lakes, canals and lagoons located parallel to the coast of the Arabian Sea was once a hub of tourists. But after the devastating floods that rocked the state, the tourism industry is in tatters. Majority of the bookings have been cancelled due to which several tourism based businesses and lives are now struggling to get back to their feet.
Among the tourism sector, backwater tourism seems to have received the biggest beating with many tourists staying away from the experience.

In order to dispel this notion, a group of techies and various other organisations have started a campaign to revive backwater tourism ‘#Back2Backwaters’ to encourage people to go back to the backwaters and see it back to action again. 

“We had a meeting with the houseboat representatives last week who told us that their existence is at stake. They have sought our help to revive the sector which is what we decided to do through our campaign,” said Renjith Ramachandran, manager of TechnoparkToday.com.  

To attract tourists, they are launching special tour packages at nominal costs. Those who are planning a day trip, can choose to visit the backwaters and share details on social media with the hashtag #back2backwaters. Besides this, they are also planning a photography exhibition and photowalk for tourists. Bloggers, vloggers and photographers can also actively participate in the campaign.

Through this campaign, they also plan to conduct weekend trips to backwaters every Saturday from the capital to Alappuzha and back. Those interested ones can join individually or as a group. “ If more than 20 people are there for a trip, the transportation will be free. We want people to come and experience how things have returned to normalcy,” said Renjith.