From rxpgnews.com
Kerala to promote home stays in a big way
By IANS,
Jan 11, 2007 - 6:29:26 PM
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 11 - Kerala Tourism Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan Thursday said that the government would make all efforts to promote home stays in the state in a big way.
'Currently we have 7000 rooms in various hotels, which is insufficient to meet the tourist inflow. To meet the increased demand, we would need 10,000 more rooms for home stays,' said Balakrishnan.
He said that Wayanad and Ernakulam districts have a large number of home stays, which has to be started in other districts as well.
Home stays give tourists an opportunity to enjoy the state's nature and homely atmosphere. Almost all home stays are situated quite away from busy city lives.
Any foreign tourist who visits Kerala spends approximately Rs.3,120 - a day for lodging alone. Most of them who visit the state for holidaying prefer to live in a homely environment.
'Likewise our efforts would be to promote hydel, farm, culture and eco-tourism products too,' Balakrishnan said.
He said that Kerala - which calls itself 'God's own country' due to its natural lushness - witnessed a record 350,000 foreign tourists and 6.5 million domestic visitors last year.
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