THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The ambitious plan of Kerala Tourism to launch caravan tourism at Ponmudi Hill Station has been dropped with the Tourism Department failing to find suitable land for setting up the park. The tourism department announced its plan to open caravan parks under PPP (Public Private Partnership) mode in three prime destinations -- Bolgatty, Bekal and Ponmudi -- to promote caravan tourism in the state.
The plan was to develop the park with private investment at revenue land in Ponmudi. According to official sources, the land identified for the park is not suitable as a caravan park requires more area. “The land parcel is inadequate for setting up a caravan park, which should be able to accommodate five to six caravans. The land we considered has the capacity to accommodate hardly two caravans. Hence, we have decided to explore other less-explored destinations in Thiruvananthapuram,” said a source.
Launched in 2021, Keravan Kerala (caravan tourism) failed to make any traction in the tourism industry owing to a lack of caravan parks. Recently, the tourism department entered into an Memorandum of Understanding with the Kerala Start Up Mission (KSUM) to breathe a fresh lease of life to caravan tourism - a new travel concept introduced by the Tourism Department that enables visitors to stay overnight at less-explored destinations across the state.
However, lack of caravan trails and parks was the main reason why the initiative failed to take off as anticipated. After the collaboration with the KSUM, an Expression of Interest was invited to set up parks at the locations. “The plan to set up the caravan park at Ponmudi has been dropped and the tourism department is yet to finalise another destination in the district. We are waiting for the new destination,” said an official of KSUM.
Ponmudi was one of the top choices for the caravan park because of the trekking and hiking opportunities at the destination. Limited accommodation options at Ponmudi was also one of the reasons for considering the location, which is a popular ecotourism destination in the state. The available land falls under the forest area, where development activities are not allowed.