Inland transport development and holiday packages

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Kerala, popularly known as ‘God’s Own Country’, is a nature lover’s paradise. The 44 rivers that criss cross this state have created river ecosystems unseen elsewhere. Inland water transport was much popular until the advent of motorized transport, which made its maiden entry very recently. The various modes of inland transport have also benefited much due to the increase in tourist expenditure.

It is difficult to measure the beneficial effects of tourist expenditure on buses and luxury coaches because the tour operators do not give accurate data about their annual incomes. As this is the most important means of transport for tourists, a substantial amount is spent by them on this item. In addition, there are a number of taxies – self-driven, hired and under private ownership, which are the direct beneficiaries of tourist traffic.

Sea and air excursions by tourists also contribute significantly to the growth of inland transport. In Kerala holiday packages that offer stay and ride in the houseboats that ply through a section of the erstwhile inland water transport routes are now becoming popular. The state government has initiated a major project to identify the scores of inland transport routes that have fallen into disuse or is now completed clogged. More than 500 crore rupees have been allocated for mapping the entire inland canals and other transportation routes that were used for transporting goods to far off destinations. Tourism in these water ways is likely to get a boost as a result.

Right from Trivandrum in the south to the central part of erstwhile central Travancore, a huge network of inland waterways existed, which served as the only route to move goods in large numbers at the cheapest rate. While all forms of modern transportation systems involve significant expenses in fuel, labor and other miscellaneous charges, the inland waterways provided the cheapest means of travel because the large boats that plied through these waterways used the ancient wind masts to push the boat forward. Thus when a huge cargo traversed more than 500 km, the expenses involved in transportation was nil.