Magical Malabar

Sri. M P M Munawar, CEO Malabar Tourism Board speaks to Pramod Kumar. T, a free lance travel writer.

Sri. M P M Munawar

How do you differ Mystiques of Malabar with Malabar Tourism and Travel Mart 2005 (MTTM)?

This time we organised Travel mart in much professional style. You know MTTM-05 was staged at dual venue like vibrant city of Kozhikode and Wayanad. By comparison, MTTM witnessed more than 327 tour operators and 87 companies for trade enquiries. All 64 stalls were air-conditioned this time. Moreover, delegates from various countries like USA UK, Canada, Germany, Japan, Qatar, UAE, Russia, Thailand, and Slovenia attended. This mart witnessed some fruitful discussions and seminars on tourism. Now we are confident that tourism will set up new benchmark in Malabar.

How do you justify for staging MTTM-05 in multi destinations?

It was great uniqueness this time. Through this Wayanad showed her tremendous capability to organize a great event like this. Participants from all walks came to realize various tourism potential of Wayanad through this bold measure. It added further milestone to familiarize an exotic destination to the world of tourism. And MTTM remains a great opportunity to showcase various tourism products of Malabar.

Why do you feel Malabar can be an alternate destination to south Kerala?

This is a sensible question indeed. For two millennia, Malabar has been attracting people from whole world. Gold, ivory, timber, spices and its inspiration turned the history of this country. But still she remained as unspoiled with her spectacular beauty as a tourist destination. And she is quite unknown to the outer world. Malabar has got all the tourist products what south Kerala can offer if not more, and moreover Malabar is very close to nature. Through life style and festivals, this land traditionally welcomed people from all over the world. Friendly and helpful people is the advantage of this land. The art of Kalaripayattu evolved as an art of combat in Malabar terrain. Heritage wise Malabar offers Edakkal caves, a Stone Age wonder dating back to 5000 years of tradition. The place has got more than ten distinctive beaches. The untouched Silent Valley, which is one of the last remaining tracts of tropical rain forest and dense green forests of both Wayanad and Parambikulam are unmatched. Crystal clear and serene backwaters Valiyaparamba and Kavvai islands, the mystical divinities of Theyyam, verdant wonder of Kuruva dweep are few things only Malabar can offer.

How can Malabar be segmented & marketed?

Malabar can be segmented by picking some prospective segments like adventure tourism, eco-tourism, religious tourism & cultural tourism. While segmenting Malabar we should effectively deploy the products in such a way that it caters to all strata of segments and income level. Malabar should be marketed by adopting some of the serious measures like participating in various National and International travels marts like WTM, ATM, South African Travel Mart, road shows, exhibitions etc. Health Tourism is an emerging segment for taping Malabar. Eco tourism is surely another promising sector, while eco- certification scheme will ensure quality in this segment. MICE is another segment to be nurtured in this sector.

How do you visualise Kerala as a tourist destination five years from today?

Kerala has got stunning variety of tourism products to offer. We have great accommodation facilities like house boats and resorts, excellent infrastructure with three international airports and the fourth one is in the pipeline. More over the environment is more peaceful and our 100% literacy will be a winning edge to Kerala Tourism.