In a landscape as filled with streams and rivers as Maravanthuruth, the best way to roam around is to take a ride along these enchanting little waterbodies or stroll besides its banks.
As this lakeside destination seeks to open itself up to visitors next month, the village is coming up with a set of tourism streets that showcase its traditional lifestyle and rural tourism potential. Divided into different categories, these streets have a circuit of waterbodies as their centerpiece, which will take guests to neighborhoods that have distinctly different characters.
K.Rupesh Kumar, coordinator, Responsible Tourism (RT) Mission, says the tourism packages are being designed to ensure a structured development of the village's interiors through local employment generation. As part of it, a directory of the tourism resources was launched here on Saturday alongside training of various village units.
“The entire canal network will be deepened and tour packages will be run through the tourism clubs under the RT Mission, which will also operate country boats, pedal boats and coracles. As many as 1,000 local residents are being imparted training in areas such as handicraft making and farm tourism and about 500 tourism ventures including home stays will come up. The packages are slated for an official launch in April,” said Mr.Kumar.
Cultural experience packages that will showcase the local ritualistic tradition and a food street offering ethnic cuisine will soon be established. These are in addition to the agri-tourism street that focusses on the interminable network of farmlands and a pilgrimage circuit connecting historic temples and churches.
Clusters comprising 40 families from each ward of the panchayat have been constituted to manage the wastes to be generated.
According to K.B. Rema, president of the Maravanthuruth panchayat, art streets, where murals will be splashed across the concrete wall canvases of village houses, will be opened with the association of local residents. A water street comprising backwaters, river and canal streets is being established with special focus on night safaris.
Development of Maravanthuruth as a rural destination is being implemented under the STREET project of the State government. STREET, the acronym for Sustainable, Tangible, Responsible, Experiential, Ethnic, Tourism, takes inspiration from the 'Tourism for Inclusive Growth' slogan of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
