The State’s first-of-its-kind visitor facilitation centre aimed at bringing all travel and tourism-related services under one roof will start operations in the city here on Wednesday.
Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, District Collector P.I. Sheikh Pareeth, who is also the chairman of the District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC), said the DTPC information centre in the city would be converted in to a state-of-the-art visitor facilitation centre.
Expression of interest has been invited for the selection of an approved service provider for managing and operating the services under the brand umbrella of DTPC.
The move is in tune with the Kerala Tourism Policy 2012, which underscores the need to enhance the quality of the visitor’s experience. In keeping with this, the DTPC submitted a project report for revamping its information office as a Visitor Facilitation Centre to provide better professional service to visitors. Department of Tourism accorded administrative sanction for Rs.35 lakh and sanctioned Rs.25 lakh for the interior furnishing.
Charles Dias, MP, has allotted the Railway Passenger Reservation facility to the DTPC, which set up a separate counter outside the existing structure by utilising the vacant space.
An ATM counter in association with HDFC Bank has also been set up. The fully air-conditioned centre will provide foreign exchange services, in-bound tourism services, out-bound tourism services, tourism investment support services, interpretation centre-cum-discussion room, and Wi-Fi service.
