Need to keep the city clean and green
Published June 7, 2008 | Kochi, June 7
World Environment was marked with great enthusiasm across the globe; the city too witnessed few of such events spreading a noble message to conserve our ecology. In the series of such events one of the leading city hotels Brunton Boatyard undertook a cycle rally around Fort Kochi.
During this rally they planted saplings and also undertook a cleanliness drive at the government hospital. This eco-friendly thought by the hotel was to spread the message among people about the need and importance of nature and keeping it clean. The hotel themselves believes and values environmental issues and took the initiative to spread the message to the public to keep the ecosystem clean and green.
Fort Kochi to have a folklore cultural theatre
Published May 28, 2008 | 
Kochi: The heritage tag of Fort Kochi would be further enhanced by the proposed folklore cultural theatre coming up at the tourism complex near the bus stand. The District Tourism Promotion Council aided project is at the final stages of completion, much to the delight of the art lovers of India and abroad.
Incorporating all the latest facilities, the proposed theatre would give further impetus to the promotion of the exceptional art forms of Kerala. It has a budget outlay of over 23 Lakh rupees and at present the interior decoration is going on in full swing.
The theatre would cater to the growing demand from foreign tourists to enjoy and pick up the nuances of traditional art forms like Kathakali.
Fort Kochi takes pride to an array of arenas that are typically associated with hotels and resorts where this timeless art form is regularly staged. Foreign tourists are keen enthusiasts of this art form and take great interest in the various stages right from the elaborate process of application of make up using traditional articles to the development of story line and the various hand mudras that are subtly used to express emotions and thoughts.
The cultural theatre in Fort Kochi is all set to repeat the success stories of the three earlier projects of the District Tourism Promotion Council including the spruced up Durbar Hall ground, the Royal Musical Walkway and the recreation pond near the Children’s Park.
Greenpeace spreads climate change awareness in the city
Published April 18, 2008 | 
Kochi: In case you happen to live or work in Kochi, you might have already seen the many blue hazard signs that blare out ‘Climate change zone ahead,’ at the many vantage points of the city including Marine Drive, Kochi. Prying pedestrians and inquisitive passers-by could not make out what they meant till the uniformed Greenpeace activists explained the underlying message of doom and danger of these messages.
Greenpeace rates Kochi as a high risk coastal city that would be badly hit by the climatic changes induced by global warming. The international environmental NGO is doing a yeomen’s service by spreading awareness about the climate change campaign in six different cities in the country, including Kochi.
It is never too late to take effective steps to counter the climate change threat caused by global warming opines the activists. Coastal cities would bear a major brunt of global warming due to the alarming rise in the sea level. Even a slight surge in the sea levels in Arabian Sea would lead to the flooding and erosion of land areas, which could wipe out a major chunk of the foreshore areas in the city.
Greenpeace activists, as part of their ‘Blue Alert’ climate change campaign has also put up the danger signs at three more places including Vasco Da Gama Square at Fort Kochi; Jews Street and Mattancherry.
Greenpeace officials said that they also plan to put up ‘eviction 2050’ notices at buildings that are located on the Kochi foreshore to remind the residents that these buildings would not survive beyond the year 2050, if adequate measures are not taken to tackle global warming. This campaign is undertaken to educate people on the drastic consequences that happen to each and everyone’s life as a result of the dangerous fallouts of climate change and to encourage them to take necessary steps to counter this universal threat that can spell doom to all living beings on planet earth!
International conference on responsible tourism
Published March 3, 2008 | 
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala is gearing up to play host to the international conference on responsible tourism scheduled for March 21-24. Organized by the Kerala Tourism and the International Centre for Responsible Tourism (India), it is a follow up of the first Responsible Tourism Conference held in Cape Town in 2002.
Over 400 Indian and foreign delegates fro over 20 countries including those from Britain, Germany, Gambia, South Africa, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Bhutan are expected to participate. Many topics of common interest such as local economic development, poverty reduction and sustainability are expected to come up for discussion. Kerala was chosen as the venue for this prestigious conference in recognition of the state’s initiatives on responsible tourism. The conference might go a long way in spreading awareness among the local populace, tour operators and hoteliers to be more responsible. In addition it might also help them to keep abreast with the changing trends and practices all over the world. Many noted personalities such as Harsh Varma, Fiona Jeffrey, Renton de Alwis and Hiran Cooray are expected to participate.
Participants will also be visiting many home stays, farms and heritage sites during the conference. Some of the tourist destinations featured include Kumbalangi, Fort Kochi, Kumarakom and Mattancherry among others. This international seminar would help to notch up the popularity of Kerala as a global tourist destination in the days to come.