The Kerala government on Wednesday announced the launch of a heli-tourism policy. The decision was approved at the weekly cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. As a result of this new policy, tourist spots across the state will be connected by a helicopter network, making them easily accessible for visiting tourists. Through this policy, the construction of basic infrastructure for helicopters, including heliports, stations, and helipads, will be undertaken.
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The government expects that with a clear-cut policy now in place for the use of helicopters in tourism, there will be renewed interest from helicopter operators to commence operations linking the numerous tourist spots. Over the years, tourism has continued to be the biggest money-spinning industry in Kerala, and with the heli-tourism policy now ready, it is expected to attract substantial private investment to the state.
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Incidentally, in the past, due to the lack of such a policy, a few large-scale Ayurveda operators had to shelve their mega projects, as they had planned to set up exquisite resorts offering Ayurveda packages at certain serene locations. Over the years, the Kerala Tourism Department has been fine-tuning its much-in-demand products, such as houseboats, caravan tourism, and promoting adventure destinations. Throughout this period, there have been calls for a well-planned policy for the operation of helicopters.
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Last year, Kerala witnessed a record surge in the number of domestic tourists, with as many as 2.1 crore people visiting the state, while the number of international travellers was 649,000, according to Kerala Tourism Board data. The Kerala government is expecting to host 2.2 crore domestic and 800,000 international travellers this financial year. Like elsewhere, the tourism industry was badly affected during the Covid period, but things are now looking bright, with Tourism Minister P.A. Mohammed Riyas leading from the front by bringing out innovative policies.
