Kerala, Etourism Destination

Kochi an E-Tourism Destination

Kochi (Cochin) is the cosmopolitan and the computer capital of Kerala, " The Land of Coconuts", so called because of her natural spendour. ( Cosmopolitan means a citizen of the Cosmos ). The Landing point for all visitors visiting this tiny state, this strategic center was a major center of trade & commerce with the Arabs, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch and the British in the past.

Housing one of the finest natural harbors in the world, Kochi is strategically located on the East - West sea trade route from Europe to Australia.



The 15th Century saw the advent of the Europeans and Kochi's trade links with the Chinese and Arabs were said to be 2000 years old. Trade links with the Portugese developed and Kochi soon became a Portugese colony. Overthrowing the Portugese, the Dutch arrived towards the end of the 15th century.

Kochi houses the main Stock Exchange of Kerala and she has undergone periods of colonization. She has been exposed to diverse cultures and different types of businesses. The city has Ayurveda, Heritage tourist centers and numerous water sports. Different varieties of merchandise are available to the shopper. Kochi is a major auction center for spices like cinnamon, pepper and cardamom, ginger, and tea.



More thatn 200000 tourists visit this city annually and her tourism industry has developed remarkably. There is still scope for furthur development in the tourism industry in Kochi because of her strategic location and the state-of-the-art facilities offered here. A reasonably warm weather characterises this Arabian Queen.

SAFE Optic Fibre Cable Project:

Kochi is the only Internet Gateway in South Asia because of the South Africa Far East ( S A F E ) Submarine Cable Project ( length 28800 kms ) for high Speed Net Access and Communications, giving state-of-the-art communication facilities. Like Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of Asia, Kochi has prospects for being the next IT Center in South Asia due to the SAFE Project and the abundant scientific & tech manpower available.

The SAFE project has enhanced the bandwidth for the mushrooming telecom, Net and Mutimedia traffic. Also improved are the security and availability of telecom links between Asia and Europe. With a major landing point in India at Kochi, SAFE Cable Project's other landing points are Cape Town ( South Africa ), Bay Jacote ( Mauritius ), Penang ( Malaysia ) and St Paul ( Reunion Island ).

The initial equipped capacity of the SAFE Project will be 80 GB expandable to 120-160 GB 1.5 Million hi-speed data channels (64K equivalent) and 12,000 (8MB) digital video channels. The Cable System has a capacity of 7.3 Million simultaneous telephone calls.

Kochi is adorned by a state-of-the-art Software Export Zone & a most modern Port. A major Container Port will be in operation after 3 years ( The Vallarpadam Container Terminal ). Compared to the infrastructure in other South Indian cities, the Infrastructure in existence here is modern & state-of-the-art.

The International Airport at Nedumbassery is connected to all parts of the world. Air India, Oman Air and Kuwait Airways, along with the domestic Indian Airlines operate here.


Kumbalangi, the Model Tourism Village


The United Nations Development Programme cited Kumbalangi, a small fishing village in Kerala, as an Endogenous Tourism Center. Endogenous means that which is derived internally and that this place shows the inherent skills and traits of Kerala. The Govt declared Kumbalangi as a Model Tourism Village.

Biogas is the gas which accrues from animal waste. Kumbalangi, as an exemplar of Organic Farming, has 800 biogas plants, generating more then 3600 hours of cooking gas !

The backwaters of Venice, the green fields of Europe all combined is this beautiful village. The Lonely Planet called it the ” Paradise found on Earth”. Sandwiched between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea in Peninsular India, is Kerala, the gift given by Nature to mankind !

Close to the port town of Kochi is Kumbalangi, an ideal tourist location. She possesses a vast stretch of backwaters and is rich with cuisines, fish farms, local boat building and coir looms. You will find its inhabitants in tune with Nature, depending on Nature for their survival. There is not too much rush of tourists ( this island gets only 5000 tourists per season ) and you will find her more or less a virgin landscape.

In 2005, the Govt came out with the Kumbalangi Integrated Tourism Village project, to transform this small island to a model tourism and fishing spot. The Chinese fishing nets which grace Fort Kochi and other places in Kochi can be seen here. Crores were invested in the project, as new roads were built, percolation tanks to store rain water was built ( thus solving the water problem ), fishes which had moved away was brought back and water drainage system was built.

Lack of rooms created Homestays. Now there are a lot of homestays in this village.

Kochi Airport is just 40 kms away and the nearest Rly Station is Ernakulam, 25 km away.




The opportunities for investing in the ICT sector and Tourism Industry are considerable as Kochi is the only Gateway in South Asia equipped with a sophisticated, speed telecom SAFE Cable Project, excellent infrastructure and a fairly well-developed Tourism Industry.

By implementing and commissioning its E-Tourism projects, we are committed to making Kochi " The Queen of the E-Tourism Industry". We seek active participation from you.


Some excellent e_Tourist resources

http://www.harithafarms.com

http://www.keralatourism.org

http://www.paradisekerala.com

http://www.coirvillage.com

http://www.keralagreenery.org

http://www.kerala.com

http://www.kerala-tourism.net

http://www.cocohol.com

http://www.akshayaindia.com

http://www.indiatravelog.com

http://www.hotelskerala.com

http://www.destinationindia.com

http://www.magic.indiatourism.com

http://www.kerala-travel-tours.com

http://www.keralatourpackages.com

http://www.india-ayurveda.com

http://www.tourismindiaonline.com

http://www.keralamate.com

http://www.travelskerala.com

http://www.tholakath.com

http://www.lawania-adventures.com

http://www.sundale.com

http://www.tsiindia.com/

http://www.keralabackwater.com/

http://www.yatraindia.com

http://www.vacationskerala.com

http://www.keralaeverything.com

http://www.keralayoga.com

http://www.yogasanam.com

http://www.internaturalhealth.com

http://www.sivananda.org

http://www.mintvalley.com

http://www.vypeen.com

http://www.vallarpadam.com

http://www.indiasite.com/

Tamil Nadu Tourism - Experience the Beaches of Tamil Nadu

www.tamilnadu-tourism.com

Article Source: Kerala, Etourism Destination

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