Close on the heels of providing accommodation in air-conditioned KSRTC buses in locales like Munnar for as low as ₹100 per person, the KSRTC has ventured into budget tours, to provide affordable tour packages to hitherto little-explored destinations.
What began in Central Kerala with tours in KSRTC buses from bus depots in Kottayam to locales like Malakkapara through pristine forests and Thekkady, has now been extended to many other destinations.
Backwater cruise
In an interesting turn of events, the KSRTC has tied up with Kochi-based Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC) to roll out for guests a tour package which begins from Chalakudy and returns after a Kochi backwater tour in KSINC’s cruise vessel Sagara Rani. The two-hour cruise is apart from a visit to Kuzhipilly beach. The tour envisaged from November 21 on public holidays has been priced ₹650 per person, KSINC sources said. For details call 97475 57737.
Biju Prabhakar, CMD of KSRTC, said the tours were being organised by Budget Tours, a new vertical that has established in the agency. The aim is to make such tours affordable for the common man. “In the long run, such unexplored destinations have the potential to become tourist hubs, since many people are not any more keen on visiting popular locales like Munnar. For this, the KSRTC will also tie up with tour operators in neighbouring States, to ready tour packages to pristine, exotic locales for the common man. Such affordable, reliable, safe and secure tour packages will provide a push to budget tourism,” he said.
In one such budget tour, guests who boarded the KSRTC’s chartered bus from Changanassery called at Kumbalanghi, the first model tourism village in India, on Sunday. They were given a reception at Pazhangad Junction by a team led by president of the Kumbalanghi panchayat, Lija Thomas. They checked out backwater locales, Chinese fishing nets and savoured ethnic lunch from a homestay in the iconic destination. The bus called at Anjuvilakku, Kumarakom, Andhakaranazhi, Arthungal, and Champakulam, before returning to Changanassery. The fare was ₹400 per person.
