Kerala is ready to greet the wellness tourists who come to the state to enjoy the magic of Ayurveda. It’s fast turning Kerala into a global medical tourism destination, drawing vacationers along with international celebrities, with packages to experience the centuries-old traditions of preparing ayurvedic medicines and the cultivation of medicinal plants.
The Responsible Tourism Mission under the Tourism Department is working together on the project. It has reached an understanding with about 48 farmers from all over state who are the owners of medicinal plant gardens ranging from 3 to 10 acres and about 180 small scale medicinal farmers. The project explains that the wellness tourists who come to Kerala for ayurvedic massages and undergo other treatments also witness the process of preparing ayurvedic medicines and the traditional maintenance of medicinal plants in the meantime.
According to state RT mission coordinator Rupesh Kumar, handful of the hundreds of ayurvedic treatments in the state own farms though they produce their own medicines. “This project will give them an opportunity to take their guests to the medicinal plant farms and the tourists will be able to come close to the traditional and authentic form of cultivation and preparation of ayurvedic medicines,” he said.
It provides ayurvedic wellness seekers an authentic Ayurveda experience which they can avail from close quarters and will also distinguish Kerala Ayurveda from the countless, sometimes the fake ayurvedic centers in other states. In short, the project would help brand Kerala as the go-to place for authentic Ayurveda across the globe.
In the meantime, once the process of categorizing the Ayurveda centres into three different categories – Ayur diamond, Ayur gold and Ayur silver, keeping in mind the facilities and quality of services offered at each of these centers is completed, Kerala Tourism would open the aforementioned packages for wellness tourists. Currently, the package is ready in two destinations – Vaikom and Kumarakom in Kottayam, in the state as part of the ‘village tour’ project of the department.
