With travel ban and other lockdown measures in place to
contain Covid-19 spread, travel enthusiasts are finding solace in virtual tours
sitting in the comfort of their homes. Capitalizing on the trend, Kerala
Tourism is now set to hold virtual tours to get connected with potential
tourists. In this, Kerala government’s travel arm is following the footsteps of
India Tourism, which had launched the successful ‘Dekho Apna Desh’ webinar
series.

“We’ve submitted a proposal for conducting virtual tour
packages that mainly includes village life experiences. This is in the wake of
the huge response to self-made videos posted by artistes in social media
platforms,” said K Rupesh Kumar, Co-ordinator, Responsible Tourism Mission.

The artistes, members of the RT Art and Cultural forums, have
uploaded as many as 500 videos of their performances and crafts. “Also, now
we’re uploading story-telling videos on the social media which too are evoking
good response,” the official said.

Recently, the Ministry of Tourism had launched “Dekho Apna
Desh” webinar series to offer tourism virtually. The first webinar ‘City of
Cities – Delhi’s Personal Diary’ held on April 14 touched upon the glorious
history of Delhi. The event saw registration and participation of 5,546 people.

The last webinar held on April 20 was on Ladakh, home to
breathtaking Himalayan landscapes. It too received good response with over 4600
participants registering and 78 per cent of the audience rating the digital
event as excellent.

“The series of webinars shall be an on-going feature and the
Ministry will work towards showcasing the diverse and remarkable history and
culture of India including its monuments, cuisine, arts, dance forms, natural
landscapes and festivals among others,” said Prahlad Singh Patel, Union
Minister of State for Tourism and Culture.