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(Green Gateway Leisure. The properties include a city-hotel Geeth International in Trivandrum and The Tea Valley Resort in the tea gardens of Munnar. Another project under development includes a 160 room five-star beach and backwater resort spread across 45 acres at Bekal in Kasargode district of North Kerala.
“The property will include a spa, convention centre, mini golf course, backwater cruise houseboats, beach activities, water and pool villas and be ready by 2010. We are also identifying new projects in other locations of Kerala,” informed E M Najeeb, CMD, ATE Group)
Najeeb says that the approximately 500 homestays on plantation bungalows – coffee, cashew, tea, pepper, vanilla - are also proving popular. “Tourists enjoy experiencing the local customs, food and culture and it’s useful income for the families,” he said.
Families who had been suffering from falling farm incomes are happy at the way the tourism industry has come to their aid. “Our aim is to make some villages self-sustaining. Homestays ensure that a large part of the income from tourists goes to the local people,” said T. Sivaraj, Secretary of URAVU, a none-profit group in Thrikkaipetta village in Wayanad district.
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Homestay arrangements are flexible. Sivaraj says that in one homestay in Thrikkaipetta, a family is providing a Frenchman with free food and accommodation for two months. In return, he is teaching them French and English.
The only area of concern with some homestays is the lack of standardisation. While some are excellent and professionally-run, in others, the level of hygiene and quality of food and facilities tended to vary as the government had not yet enforced basic regulations. Some home stays are run by small entrepreneurs who need training.
There can also be some cultural mishaps owing to lack of training. Some host families tend to start relating sob stories of their deprivation and lack of income in the hope of extracting extra money. The effect on guests is unsettling.
Kerala hoteliers believe that when demand picks up, the industry should refrain from the wild fluctuations that have been seen in tariffs in recent years – sky-high during peak demand and then falling when demand is flat.
Najeeb says it creates a negative impression when hotel rooms can plummet from $450 a night to to $150.
Travellers go back home and talk about ‘overpriced India’. That flattens demand even more and everyone suffers, including the smaller hotels who were not over-charging in the first place.
He points out that hotels in south east Asia stick to consistent tariffs instead of swinging violently depending on market conditions. “How can you demand $400 for the same room that you were charging $150 for a few months earlier, without any added value for the customer?
People need to understand that we are not in the business of selling rooms but in the business of giving value for money,” he said. Concerned at the dip in tourist inflow, the Kerala Tourism Ministry is organising road shows in 15 Indian cities in north India to stimulate domestic demand.
This will be followed up by another promotion campaign in other southern states.
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