Monsoon brings offbeat tourism offers in its wake

KOCHI: Even as the city gets waterlogged due to heavy rains, the tourism sector has been rolling out arrays of monsoon packages aimed at attracting a large number of tourists to boost the business in the otherwise lean season. Besides discounted rates on room rent and food, the city is now seeing an upswing in offbeat tourism undertakings during the monsoon season.
"Rainwalk trekking, camping and the like become more adventurous during monsoons. Moreover, the landscape looks magically fresh after the showers. Several tourists are drawn to such trips despite the difficulty of trekking during rainy season in forest areas," said Sebinster Francis, an adventure tour consultant and naturalist said.
With adventure water sports taking a backseat during the season, those in the travel industry have been promoting other adventure activities. This includes unconventional tourism programmes like football in rain and mud walks. Apart from sightseeing, outdoor activities like cycling in rain is also being offered by tourism agents in the city.
"Cycling in rain-soaked streets at night, away from busy roads will be a different experience for the tourists all together. Additionally, games like treasure hunting will also be inculcated to the programme, adding to the experience for the tourists," said Sriraj Krishnan, co-founder of Redraw Life, a tourism service sector partaker. He added that unlike the usual sightseeing in the city, night-time cycling will offer a different view of the city as well.
Apart from discounted rates at hotel and homestay bookings as well as travel packages, boating in backwaters is another conventional monsoon activity offered in the city by various tour operators.
State Water Transport Department (SWTD) is also looking forward for introducing a special boat service in the season that will connect Vaikom to Kochi. "The works on the boat is underway at Aroor and it will be launched as soon as other details pertaining to the service, like ticketing, routes and timing, are fixed. The service will connect the major touristic spots in the city and will deliver a boating experience to them as well," said M Sujith, SWTD traffic superintendent.
Over 50 religious and cultural festivals and their accompanying rituals that fall in the monsoon season have been also drawing tourists. A calendar that highlights the locations of the festivals, providing dates of festivals and rituals, along with the details of contact persons associated with upcoming shows have been updated in the Kerala tourism website. The collection also includes fifty videos, which will provide a brief glimpse of the festivals and rituals.