Single window clearance system for film shootings in the State.

God's Own Country is set to bank on the reel world to showcase its mystic mountains and serene backwaters to the global tourist.
To make 'cinematic tourism' a reality, the State government is planning to roll out a single-window clearance system for global co-production of films in the state, minister for tourism A P Anil Kumar on Wednesday told on the sidelines of a session on Discovering Kerala Through Cinema, held as part of the ongoing International Film Festival of Kerala.

Sabarimala revenue touches Rs 77.72 crore.

SABARIMALA:  The total revenue earnings at Lord Ayyappa temple during the period ended December 13 stood at `77.72 crore as against `58.78 crore during the corresponding period in the last pilgrimage season.
Revealing this, Travancore Devaswom Board president M Rajagopalan Nair said that the increase in the revenue was mainly because of around 20 per cent increase in the arrival of pilgrims during the ongoing season.
Of the total revenue, the income from aravana sales stood at `33.68 crore during the period under review as against `24.25 crore in the same period last season.
The hundi collection came to `26.64 crore during the period under review in contrast to `21.65 crore during the corresponding period last season.
The income from the sales of appam stood at `7.25 crore as against `5.30 crore, he said.
Source - Express buzz.

Mullaperiyar controversy severely affecting tourism season in Kerala.

The Mullaperiyar controversy has badly affected the peak tourism season of Kerala, with the Thekkady-Munnar circuit almost completely erased from the itinerary of travellers and the rest of the tourist hotspots also feeling the pinch slowly.
The cancellations in hotels and resorts in the Thekkady belt are increasing with each passing day, and the Kumily town remains one of the worst hit owing to the stand-off on the Mullaperiyar issue.  The violence erupted over the Mullaperiyar issue in border areas after the onset of the current peak tourism season has sent an unwelcome message to the tourists, both domestic and foreign. “We don’t actually know what could be done now and how to retrieve the losing season, amid the volatile situation. Now the Mullaperiyar issue has affected Kerala’s tourism sector in an unimaginable proportion. It may affect the IT and other sectors of  the state as well,” said Tourism Minister A P Anil Kumar.

CHEMBRA PEAK

Chembra Peak (Malayalam: ചെമ്പ്ര കൊടുമുടി) is the highest peak in Wayanad, at 2,100 metres (6,900 ft) above sea level. Chembra is located near the town of Meppady and is 8 km south of Kalpetta. It is part of the Wayanad hill ranges in Western Ghats, adjoining the Nilgiri Hills in Tamilnadu and Vellarimala in Kozhikode district in Kerala. Chembra peak is accessible by foot from Meppady. District Tourism Promotion Council provides guides and trekking equipments on hire charges to the tourists. Permission from the forest office in Meppady is required for trekking up to Chembra Peak. A heart shaped lake on the way to the top of the peak is a major tourist attraction. The lake is believed to have never dried up. You can find the lake half way to the peak, after getting to the lake you need to trek another half way which is through the dense trees of about one to two km. A 5 km journey from Meppadi town through tea estates to Erumakkolli.
Transportation
One can reach the forest office, from where a pass has to be acquired to trek the mountain. Also services of guide can be availed which might be very useful. The trek to the top takes 3 hours, and one can see almost the whole of Wayanad and parts of Malappuram, Kozhikkode and Nilgiri districts.
Chembra is located in Meppadi (Meppady) Panchayath, 11 km off NH212 (Kollegal - Mysore - Kozhikode). For people who prefer public transport, KSRTC (both Kerala & Karnataka) and a lot of private companies operate overnight deluxe buses between Kozhikode (aka Calicut) and Bengaluru. People taking buses can get down at Kalpetta and catch another bus to Meppadi. Meppadi is 11 km from Chundale, in the SH29, connecting Chundale to Ooty.


PHOTOS OF CHEMBRA PEAK

Our Guide

Heart shaped lake on the top

Heart Shaped Lake

Kerala's High speed rail corridor expected to begin in 2013.

The preliminary works on the proposed high-speed rail corridor linking Thiruvananthapuram with Mangalore are expected to begin in 2013. The first phase of the project — the Thiruvananthapuram-Kochi link — would be ready in five-and-a-half years, according to T. Balakrishnan, chairman and managing director of the Kerala High Speed Rail Corporation.
The high-speed corridor is expected to be commissioned in 2020, and the trains would have an approximate speed of 300 km per hour, he said here on Friday, after inaugurating the Kerala chapter day 2011 and the diamond jubilee celebrations of the Travel Agents' Association of India.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation's (DMRC) report on the project is expected in another six months.


Mr. Balakrishnan spoke at length about the availability of a wide choice of technology from around the world and plenteous funds for the project that is estimated to cost Rs.1.18 lakh crore. “We would be able to raise this money since NRK's and others are willing to help. The benefits would be shared by everyone. The average speed of trains in India is 60 km per hour now. The old, existing rails were built for a particular purpose. In many sectors, we are still in the 19th century,” he said.


NEED OF THE HOUR
“The expressway mooted from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasargod should have been built long ago. We cannot be satisfied anymore with incremental progress. The whole of India needs high-speed rail networks and Kerala should be pioneers in the field. Even China has built a massive (high-speed) rail network,” he said and exhorted travel agents to advocate faster and better transportation modes.
On the state of Kerala's tourism sector, he spoke of how Kerala Tourism needed to reinvent itself. Once its best products, the backwaters and ayurveda had become a little stale, he said.


Referring to the challenges faced by travel agents, Mr. Balakrishnan said that travel would never go out of fashion. The sector had bounced back after every crisis since people loved travelling, for leisure or pilgrimage. But stakeholders in the sector must constantly change and adapt to the changing situation.


The others who spoke at the function include Austin Varghese, chairman of the association; K.C. Chandrahasan, former chairman; N.M. Sharafudeen, vice-president; Mary Mohan James, honorary secretary; and Riaz Ahmed, president of Kerala Travel Mart Society. Mr. Chandrahasan spoke of the need to invest in good human resources.


Source-The Hindu