Incentive Travel Destinations: Kerala, India
Even though our team have an unbelievable combined 250 years of travel experience to all four corners of the globe, we still constantly strive to find new and exciting destinations which we can offer to our pioneering clients, who are prepared to take that step into the unknown. This does not have to be a scary step, since we actively encourage our staff to visit these far-flung, unheard of places to sort the wheat from the chaff (in putting together an incentive programme), which is precisely why we sent one of our Event Managers, Gareth, off to Southern India on a fact-finding mission.
He took a few days out of the office to fly to Kerala (in this case, via Bahrain, although other Middle Eastern connections, such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar etc. are also available to Kerala.) With two main international airports, Thiruvananthapuram and Cochin to choose from, flight access is good, but will require a connection.
Kerala has attracted the attention of traders and travellers for time immemorial and much of its money has come from overseas – today, Kerala still looks abroad to ensure that wealth feeds back into the state, although these days this is through remittances sent home by migrant workers in the Gulf rather than the arrival of Arab dhows. What is so captivating about the region is that despite traditionally welcoming visitors and its extensive links with the outside world, Kerala is fiercely protective of its traditions.
Gareth reports that along the Keralan coastline, there are numerous palm-fringed beaches, behind which are the famed Backwaters (a huge complex of brackish lagoons and canals, fed by rivers running from the Mountains) and the highlight of any trip to the region. Hiring a houseboat is a fantastic means of exploring these waterways and watching traditional life go on. Unique to the area, these vessels were the historical means of transporting rice and other goods from the centre of the region to the ports, such as Aleppey and Cochin. These days, converted to comfortable and surprisingly high standard floating mini-hotels with up to 4 bedrooms and with all the amenities that you would probably not expect, a lazy day (or night) can be spent eating, drinking and chilling on-board. Gareth saw the world go by in much the same way that it has done for centuries – with women doing their washing in the river, farmers shepherding hoards of ducks, paddy fields being flooded, people fishing and local lads having a boozy day out on the waters – all of them waving and smiling and making visitors feel warmly welcome into their world.
Also, by coincidence, he also managed to visit and take part in local Hindu temple festival, such is the charm of Kerala. For a group, we can arrange for houseboats to anchor up at a wider part of the waterways in a circle, around a pre-constructed platform in the centre and organise for guests to enjoy dinner and drinks on-board, whilst they are entertained by any number of colourful musicians and dancers on the platform. This set up could even be used for an alternative conference venue – one which guests would never forget!!
From an eco-point of view, there are (real, land-based!) hotels which score high on charm over traditional luxury, where visitors can enjoy a real Keralan experience, staying in properties which reflect the traditional fishing accommodation typical to the area, with rare breeds of cattle being used to trim the lawns, where waste becomes natural gas, where hotels are chemical free, and where they have engaged in the use of local and tribal wisdom as much as possible when running the hotels. What’s amazing is how successfully the hotels combine all of the above, without compromising service or comfort in any way. Some of the properties can only be accessed by water, adding a romantic arrival experience for guests and truly reflecting the nature of this get-away-from-it-all location! Ayurvedic treatments spas, which are globally all the rage, are an integral part of every property and treatments are wonderful and inexpensive.
India is an assault on the senses, there is no doubt about it, but Gareth found that some of the common misconceptions about the subcontinent were just that – misconceptions.
For example, Kerala has a high adult literacy rate, meaning that overpopulation is being addressed and abject poverty, which a first-time visitor to other parts of India can find so shocking, is not overwhelming and not really in evidence in Kerala, one of the wealthiest parts of the country; the slums of the eponymous Slumdog Millionaire are not there – wealth from Gulf income is. Gareth also found that the food and service is second to none, if travellers have doubts about getting “Delhi Belly”, again this was not his experience – high standards of cleanliness in eating establishments, use of hand detergent after handling cash and drinking lots of water, together with the possibility of having food as bland as you like if you don’t like spicy food, all meant that Gareth and his travel companions did not suffer any tummy troubles. In addition, no untoward vaccinations are required for a trip to Kerala.
These days, material things alone no longer suffice; we are looking for experiences. With this in mind, we really can go to town to provide a total Keralan experience to guests, especially in terms of event theming, since in this part of the world (deservedly monikered, ‘God’s Own Country’), there is an abundance of beautiful and colourful fabrics, flowers, venues and amazing food and wonderful, welcoming people, who have a real ‘can-do’ attitude!
Gareth concludes that, ‘of all the destinations I have visited over many years, I feel that I have been somewhere totally incomparable to anywhere else, but without scary culture shock! Standards are high in everything you would require when putting together a client programme. What was also refreshing, was the lack of Western faces – in a week, we only came across about ten Westerners – this made us feel that we really were somewhere undiscovered! This is a fab destination, which I would love to encourage our pioneering clients to visit – they would be guaranteed a truly unique and fascinating visit, memories of which, I am sure they would treasure for ever!’