Home >> News & Events >> ‘BEYOND THE BEACH’ VILLAGE LIFE EXPERIENCE TOUR PACKAGES STARTED OPERATION AT KOVALAM
Village Life Experience (VLE) Tour Packages Launched‘Beyond the Beach' the village life experience packages developed by Kerala Tourism as part of its Responsible Tourism initiative was launched by Sri. George Mercier, M.L.A. at Kovalam on 4th May 2010. The function was chaired by Dr. V. Venu I.A.S, Secretary, KeralaTourism. Sri. M.Sivasankar IAS , Director, KeralaTourism delivered the Welcome speech. Sri. U.V.Jose Chief Operating Officer of GITPAC International (RT Technical support unit) made a detailed presentation about the packages and introduced all the community members associated with this program.
The Village Life Experience packages have been designed based on the traditional livelihoods, culture and lifestyle of the destination. VLE has been developed with the objective of encouraging the local community to continue with their traditional livelihood activities, honor local talents and reap additional income from tourism as a supplementary activity.
The activities included in the first set of packages include visit to the local florist who make garlands for the use in the nearby temple, coconut leaf weaving, a coir manufacturing unit, Zero waste centre, visit to a local anganwadi , the rural market, spending time with a blacksmith at his aala, making of raalkkoodu - the traditional fish traps, Kalari, lunch at rural restaurant, Kathakali mask making unit, handloom weaving unit, and fishing at Vellayani lake. The package and the duration of visit to each place have been so designed that the tourism activity does not affect the livelihood activities of the participants.
The prices of the packages start from Rs. 1000 for half day tours and Rs. 2000 for full day tours. The price of the package also incorporates a component intended to create a Village development fund for the destinations, the utilization of which will be under the Destination Level Responsible Tourism Committees (DLRTCs). The packages are ‘Beyond the Beach @ Kovalam’ (full day), ‘Lake & Life’ (half day) and ‘Tradition & Heritage’ (half day).
For more information and booking of the tour package,
Please contact
Tourism Facilitation Center Kovalam : 91 0471 2480085
RT Technical Support Unit, Trivandrum : 91 047 3084500
Email : rtkovalam@gmail.com
