Trivandrum- Tourist places, new projects & Updates

[ajithv]

[ajithv]

Source: Kerala Kaumudi

[ASGeorge]

30-year plan for Kovalam stretch



The Kovalam-Poovar belt, which has the Light House, Eve’s and Samudra beaches, satellite beaches of Pozhiyoor and Poovar, and several pocket beaches along the 17-km coastline, is to be redeveloped by Kerala Tourism “to a world-class tourism destination by 2042.”

The Vision and Development plan for “30 years beyond today” for Kovalam-Poovar Tourism Corridor is being prepared as the area has not witnessed planned development, as per the note prepared by Kerala Tourism. Unauthorised constructions continue to sprout on the stretch.
The coastal belt consisting of various beach destinations, starting from Poovar beach in the south to Kanwatheertha beach in the north, offers the best tourism products and Kovalam beach is the preferred destination of tourists from all over the world.
The government has accorded administrative sanction for preparing the vision document. Kerala Tourism has invited bids from consultants/consortiums for carrying out consultancy services for the study and preparation of the proposed 30-year master plan for the corridor. Quality and Cost Based Selection (QCBS) principles will be used to decide the agency.
The Tourism Department has insisted that the development, which will be in a phased manner, should include social, cultural, and heritage aspects in addition to infrastructure. In infrastructure, civil constructions, roads and highways, water and power, parking, transportation, solid and liquid waste collection and disposal, water harvesting and welfare of local community have been included. Ready-to-implement development schemes are being envisaged.
Kerala Tourism has insisted that the primary objective should be to prepare a projected image of the corridor, considering the physical, environmental, social, and cultural attributes, and standard of living of local community. Benchmarking will be done with similar Indian or foreign tourism corridors. Preparation of a 30-year macro-level plan for tourism development of the corridor is the second objective.
The third objective is to prepare micro-level destination-development plan for five or six destinations in the corridor.

Deadlines

The interim report on macro-level plan will have to be submitted within two months by the agency concerned. The interim report on master plan and project report for destinations will have to be submitted within three months. The draft final master plan, both macro level and micro level, will have to be submitted in four-and-a-half months, and the final report, in six months.
Source:The Hindu
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper...cle4064021.ece

[Ajaypp]

- In characteristic style, the authorities come up with the idea of a Master Plan after most of the area in question has already been developed. For example, almost every bit of beach between Vellar and Poovar have already been taken up by resorts. The area is very densely populated which precludes the kind of land availability needed for a Master Plan that aspires for more than just being a tidy but academic report.

Always 30 years too late!

Having said that, there's a lot that can still be done including improving physical infrastructure access, financial incentives for the industry within the zone and vigorous destination branding. Stay tuned!

[ASGeorge]

Originally Posted by Ajaypp

- In characteristic style, the authorities come up with the idea of a Master Plan after most of the area in question has already been developed. For example, almost every bit of beach between Vellar and Poovar have already been taken up by resorts. The area is very densely populated which precludes the kind of land availability needed for a Master Plan that aspires for more than just being a tidy but academic report.

Always 30 years too late!

Having said that, there's a lot that can still be done including improving physical infrastructure access, financial incentives for the industry within the zone and vigorous destination branding. Stay tuned!

+1

[ajithv]

Source: Kaumudi

[ajithv]

Source: Kaumudi

[ajithv]

Source: Kaumudi

[ajithv]

Source: Kerala Kaumudi

[ajithv]

Museum Park is another favourite spot

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After a fairly long break, the Children's Park at the Museum has once again turned out to be a favorite recreation spot for children in city.

"The children activity center is popular among the kids with the incorporation of the new toy train and other amusement rides. It had been shut down previously due to repairs. Now the activity centre has been leased out to a private firm for two years. The operational cost is recovered by charging fees to access the rides," said administrative officer of museum and zoo Harsha M.

The 25-cent plot consists of swings, slides, see-saw, merry-go-round and other rides in which the machine-operated rides are maintained by a private firm on contract basis. Since a large number of parents and children visit the park daily, the staff of the museum and zoo authorities take care of daily maintenance.

"The renovation is still on. We are now focusing on landscaping the park. I am sure that the colorful playthings and the pleasant atmosphere will attract more kids here after," said junior superintendent Ramalatha P.

[Ajaypp]

Originally Posted by ASGeorge

30-year plan for Kovalam stretch



The Kovalam-Poovar belt, which has the Light House, Eve’s and Samudra beaches, satellite beaches of Pozhiyoor and Poovar, and several pocket beaches along the 17-km coastline, is to be redeveloped by Kerala Tourism “to a world-class tourism destination by 2042.”

Here are my thoughts on what the development plan for Kovalam should include. Soliciting your valuable feedback on the same.

[Ziyan]

Originally Posted by Ajaypp

Here are my thoughts on what the development plan for Kovalam should include. Soliciting your valuable feedback on the same.

Excellent! Realizing the true potential of Kovalam
But, the proposed Film City in thiruvallom(chitranjali) is not mentioned. I believe it can attract large number of tourists every year!

[Ajaypp]

Originally Posted by Ziyan

Excellent! Realizing the true potential of Kovalam
But, the proposed Film City in thiruvallom(chitranjali) is not mentioned. I believe it can attract large number of tourists every year!

Thanks for the feedback, Ziyan. As things stand, Thiruvallom is outside the purview of the tender issued by the Tourism Department. Additionally, the Film City project has been brewing without any result for years now, I am skeptical if it'll ever come to fruition in the way we hope it would. But you are right, it may make sense to include it in the Plan and to allocated additional funding in this manner.

Why don't you post it as a comment on the blog?

[ASGeorge]

Rs 500 crore master plan for tourism development


Source : keralakaumudi

[Viveks]

Source: Facebook

[Ziyan]

Kovalam panoramic view

[ASGeorge]

Source : mathrubhumi

[RajeshVR]

Trisha krishnan‏@trishtrashers ( Twitter)

Spending a beautiful day at Taj Kovalam wit my galpal..
D best grills overlooking d ocean..Cest la vie

[ajithv]

Source: Mathrubhumi

[sajith]

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala has edged out the Taj Mahal to become the number one in Google’s search trends for travel destinations in the country for 2012.

Munnar, a popular tourist destination in the state, is also on the list of Top 10 Indian destinations on Google’s Zeitgeist site, showing search trends from around the world.

Kerala at number one and the Taj Mahal at number two were followed by the Wagah Border (Punjab), Vaishno Devi and Amarnath (both in Jammu and Kashmir).

Kashmir came number six on the list of Top ten travel destinations under the Google search trends for 2012.

According to search trends in the travel category released by Google for this year, Munnar was number nine, followed by the Gateway of India (Mumbai).

Kerala Tourism Minister AP Anil Kumar described the two listings for Kerala, including the number one spot, as a great encouragement for the state.

“Kerala Tourism is a leader in online promotional activities for the state. We are one of the first government establishments to make use of the internet to reach out to the world,” he said.

Google’s Zietgeist, which covers all search categories, answers the question of what the world searched for in a particular year.
http://www.firstpost.com/tech/kerala...ia-571432.html