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Kerala hardsells Lok Sabha elections to tourists
The leader of the tourism industry in India, Kerala, has come up with another innovative way of giving tourists a taste of Incredible India!
The leader of the tourism industry in India, Kerala, has come up with another innovative way of giving tourists a taste of Incredible India!
Tour operators in the state have packaged the sound and fury of the elections and are selling it to foreigners.
The Pulikattil Tourism Group, a leading houseboat operators' firm in Alapuzha, has launched an "election tourism package" to cash in on the 14th general elections.
Already, three groups of tourists (21 in all) are experiencing the "wild and exotic" Indian elections.
"We are flooded with inquiries. In fact, we started very late. For the assembly elections (due in 2006), we will start bookings earlier," said the ecstatic managing director of the group, Tomy Pulikattil, who owns a fleet of eight luxury boats.
How do tourists experience elections? Through one of the USPs of the state — the backwaters that criss-cross at least five constituencies.
So, using houseboats as the mode of transport, these foreigners track candidates, attend their meetings and participate in rallies and other related events. Some candidates are even magnanimous enough to devote time to them. (Congress candidate from Alapuzha V.M. Sudheeran spent two hours with them on Monday.)
"Our election is only restricted to TV debates. This is the first time we are experiencing door-door-to campaigns," said Robert Froge, a Dutch tourist, who is excited about the high-voltage drama.
Another tourist is a bit upset by the defacing of the walls, but she finds them artistic. Now the upbeat organisers are planning to take them to meetings addressed by national leaders.
"What is tourism? To see and experience new things. For them, the Indian election is unique in many ways. There is huge potential even in sound and fury. Nothing is wasted here," explained Tomy Pulikattil.
