Tribal kids to have a city tour on World Tourism Day

Thiruvananthapuram: Around 65 tiny tots hailing from various tribal settlements in forest-fringe areas and studying in Government Tribal School at Vlavatty near Kottoor, will make a first-time visit to various tourist attractions in the city on Wednesday, thanks to the district tourism promotion council’s (DTPC) novel initiative to mark the World Tourism Day celebrations.
“We hope this will provide an unforgettable experience to these small children (studying in classes I to V), and it will be the first trip to the city for a majority of these students,” said DTPC secretary T V Prasanth.
The students, who will reach the city in two buses on Wednesday morning, will have free access to the zoo and the Napier museum, where they will be served snacks and refreshments followed by lunch. They will proceed to Veli Tourism Village, and will be entertained by a city-based band ‘Chumaduthangi’.
The students will also spend some time on Shangumugham beach before returning home by evening.
Tourism seminar: The DTPC, to mark the World Tourism Day, will also organize a seminar with the focus on tourism development in the district. Tourism minister Kadakampally Surendran will inaugurate the seminar titled ‘Tourism Tomorrow @Thiruvananthapuram: The Sustainable Path Ahead’ at Hotel Apollo Dimora at 10am.
The seminar debate the issues and challenges in Thiruvananthapuram district with regard to tourism development said the DTPC secretary.
Local MLA V S Sivakumar will preside over the inaugural session, which will be attended by city mayor V K Prasanth and Attingal MP A Sampath.
The seminar to be chaired by KTDC MD Rahul R, will see presentations by Inkel managing director T Balakrishnan and the founder CEO of Technopark G Vijayaraghavan on ‘relevance of DTPC today’ and ‘sustainable tourism in water bodies’ respectively.
Confederation of Kerala tourism industry chairman E M Najeeb will speak on ‘tourism planning and infrastructure development’, while Attoi (Association of Tourism Trade Organisations in India) president P K Anish Kumar will talk about ‘Sustainable tourism, a tool for development.’