Cooper Holidays Offers Tourists A Feel Of Kerala

Innovation is the talk of the town as far as any business is concerned. Tourism has not been left behind either. With the increase in tourist inflow into Kerala over the last one year, tour operators here are formulating innovative packages to lure both international and domestic tourists into Kerala. One such latest venture is Cooper Holidays Ltd, a tour operator backed by NRI investment that has begun functioning from Kochi this year.

Cooper Holidays plans to attract tourists mainly from Europe and USA by offering them a feel of Kerala and the Malayali way of life. "We will be taking them directly to the villages in order to get a feel of Malayali life," says K J Mathew, director of the institution. According to him, foreign tourists coming into Kerala are eager to get a feel of the village life here, but they have very few options. Tourists will get a chance to look at traditional fishing in Kochi, spinning of coir yarn in Alappuzha etc through their scheme.

"We have bought some area in Kumbalangi, where we will set up village huts for our customers. Tourists will feel that they are very close to nature by spending time in these huts furnished with palm leaf beds and all other natural materials that make a perfect village hut," Mathew said. They are also planning to set up huts on trees and cottages near Lakshmi Estate, Munnar.

Cooper Holidays will offer its service throughout the year. "There is nothing like an off-season as far as tourism is concerned. There are people who have not even experienced rain in their life and for such tourist we offer various packages during the monsoon season," Mathew said. They are also actively involved in pilgrim tourism packages targeting domestic tourists.

Mathew said,"Our representatives, spread over 162 locations, will always be touring various countries, and they will meet our customers personally, be it in the US or Europe" The company will open offices in Bangalore, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram this year. "We will also have offices in Dubai and in some north Indian metros soon", he added.