Going against a general tendency to lie low during off-season, the Kerala Government is bracing up with a novel scheme aimed at wooing visitors - especially from upcountry.
The state Tourism Department has embarked on a campaign titled 'Dream Deals' in a bid to leverage the potential during what is traditionally dubbed 'off-season' during the peak-summer months of April-May, followed by the monsoons.
The discount-rate scheme, which is on from April until the end of September, is now poised to provide a new phase of experience for visitors, as the three-month monsoons are set to hit Kerala on June 1.
'Dream Deals', the details of which can be accessed from the Kerala Tourism website, have been published on a microsite ( www.keralatourism.org/dreamdeals) for the user or wannabe visitor to create one's preferred itinerary at a much economical rate.
Kerala Tourism Minister A P Anilkumar said the response has been encouraging. "This is also because June is peak summer and school-holiday time in North India, where rains are few and far between," he noted.
"Tourists from that part of the country would be particularly tempted to sense the cooler climes of Kerala till end-August," he added.
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Tourism Secretary Suman Billa revealed that the lean season has yet another advantage: discounts on hospitality expenses. "For the domestic traveller, the charges will be lower by around 30 per cent," he informed.
"As for the microsite which will enable the user to create a preferred itinerary, the proposed visit plan will then be automatically forwarded to five accredited tour operators in the state. They will get back to the applicant with the best rates," Billa added.
Besides helping create itinerary-based destinations, budget and the number of days to spend in Kerala, 'Dream Deals' will give users the option to "play around mixing and matching various destinations into the itinerary until they get the most comfortable one," he added.
In fact, "once they have finalised, they can share their itinerary with Facebook friends," the Tourism Secretary pointed out. Soon, this will be an online ad campaign on various internet platforms: Google, Yahoo and Facebook networks.
To boost this year's campaign outside the cyber world, Kerala Tourism will shortly be launching a print ad campaign in leading English and regional dailies besides general-interest and travel magazines. It will tie up with some of the airlines to have the Dream Deals brand on the back of boarding passes. Also, there will be ads displayed in Delhi Metro stations.