A plan to position Kerala as a dedicated yoga destination and develop a yoga circuit linking yoga and meditation centres, ashrams, and tourist destinations was rolled out from Kovalam on Thursday.
Fifty-six yoga tour operators, journalists specialising in yoga and wellness, and yoga teachers from 23 countries have flown down to Kovalam to familiarise themselves with the yoga circuit, which combines the demands for yoga, meditation, and health tourism from wellness travellers.
Inaugurating Thursday’s programme, titled Yoga Ambassadors Tour, Union Minister of State for Ayush Shripad Yesso Naik said the ambassadors would help promote Kerala as a yoga destination around the globe.
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Through the yoga circuit, Kerala was creating a new tourism product, Minister for Tourism Kadakampally Surendran said in his keynote address.
After the inaugural session, the participants attended a conference that covered various aspects of yoga. From Friday, they will visit Maruthamala in Kanyakumari district, the meditation centre on the Vivekananda Rock there, undertake a heritage tour in Thiruvananthapuram before moving to Jadayupara, Elephant Rock, Kollam, Kumarakom, and Muniyara, near Marayur, in Munnar.
On June 21, International Yoga Day, the ‘ambassadors’ will participate in a mass yoga drill and cultural evening in Kochi before flying back next day.
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