To tour Kerala on Internet, use gestures

Kumaar Holidays
No.42,  Chowdary Nagar Main Road,
Valasaravakkam, Chennai-87
Ph: 0091 7810896933 / 7810986933 
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To tour Kerala on Internet, use gestures

In a pioneering development, the Kerala State Tourism Board allows users to access the site, www.when-it-rains.com, with their webcams the site can be navigated through gestures alone.
The website takes viewers to rain-washed plains, misty hills and majestic backwaters, and the interface takes place through sheer gestures.
This is one of few tourism websites anywhere in the world to use gesture-controlled technology for navigation.
Visually stunning images of the monsoon shot by Facebook fans of Kerala Tourism are used in the new website, developed by Stark Communications, the official marketing and communications agency of the Kerala Tourism department.
The website tracks movements and gestures through the webcam and responds to these to allow the user to browse the site.
"People around the world can now sit in front of a computer or with a smart phone and enjoy multifarious experiences, even before they actually arrive in the state," Kerala Tourism Secretary Suman Billa said.
Kerala Tourism Director Hari Kishore described the gesture-controlled website as yet another step in extending to the world the many experiences that Kerala offers to a visitor.
Kerala Tourism is a pioneer in integrating technology in promoting its destinations to audiences across the country as well as abroad.
The department's award-winning website (www.keralatourism.org) is one of the most-visited tourism websites in the world.

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Visa-on-arrival boost for Kerala Tourism: Oommen Chandy

The introduction of tourist visa-on-arrival (T-VoA) facility at Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi airports will help attract more foreign visitors to the state, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said on Wednesday.

T-VoA is currently available for citizens of 11 countries - Cambodia, Finland, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Luxembourg, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.

T-VoA allows tourists from these nations to request for a visa upon their arrival at either of the two airports. The fee is 60 US dollars and the visa is valid for up to 30 days. It will be issued twice a year and is for those coming for recreation, sightseeing and meeting friends or relatives.

Those applying should not have a residence or occupation in India. They should have a passport with a minimum validity of six months and produce proof of confirmed hotel booking and return tickets when applying for T-VoA.

Mr Chandy reviewed the arrangements at the special T-VoA counter on Wednesday.

The facility at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport became operational on August 15.

T-VoA was rolled out in the first phase in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai airports. The facility is also available at Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Tourist arrivals from Japan were up 56 per cent in the past five years to 11,440 in 2012 while arrivals from Finland more than doubled over the period to 5,160 last year.

Tourist arrivals from New Zealand, Philippines and Singapore have also gone up between 75 and 90 per cent since 2008.

"The VoA facility has been a long-standing demand from Kerala Tourism and now we intend to take full advantage of it," said Tourism Minister A.P. Anil Kumar.

He added: "The Department of Tourism will take the campaign to these countries. We will take part in travel fairs and present our road shows to tell people there how convenient visiting Kerala is."

The minister said: "The scheme will help Kerala Tourism achieve target of 30 lakh foreign tourists by 2021."

Kerala saw 789,698 foreign tourist arrivals in 2012 while foreign exchange earnings touched Rs.4,548 crore.

Kumaar Holidays
No.42,  Chowdary Nagar Main Road,
Valasaravakkam, Chennai-87
Ph: 0091 7810896933 / 7810986933 
www.kumaarholidays.com
kumaarholidays@gmail.com

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Kerala Tourism road shows begin in US

In view of the increasing number of visitors from Europe, Kerala Tourism is now looking across the Atlantic to significantly boost foreign arrivals in the state.

The department is holding three road shows at major cities in the United States this month to enter the American market in a big way, an official release here said.

The first two road shows were held at New York and Chicago in the last couple of days, which would be followed by the last road show in Los Angeles on Thursday.

The United States is the fourth major market for Kerala Tourism after the United Kingdom, France and Germany, Tourism Minister A P Anilkumar, who is leading a delegation of government and industry representatives from the state to the US, said.

"An increase in arrivals of visitors from the biggest economy in the world will be a significant factor for the growth of tourism in the state," he said.

Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur attended the road show in New York, in which 58 members from the US travel and tourism trade sector took part. Tourism Secretary Suman Billa made a presentation on the top tourist attractions in 'God's Own Country' at the event.

It is for the first time Kerala Tourism is organising road shows in the United States. Tourist arrivals in Kerala from the US went up last year to 57,807 from 55,741 in 2011.

India's Consul General in New York Dnyaneshwar M Mulay, was also present at the road show, which was attended by eight industry representatives from Kerala.

"Americans are one of the top global travellers and it is only logical that Kerala Tourism is making inroads into the vast market offered by the United States," said Billa.

The Air India is sponsoring free economy class round trip tickets to the winners of lucky draws being held in each venue of the road shows. The lucky draw winners would get a free 10-day holiday in Kerala, the release said.

Kumaar Holidays
No.42,  Chowdary Nagar Main Road,
Valasaravakkam, Chennai-87
Ph: 0091 7810896933 / 7810986933 
www.kumaarholidays.com
kumaarholidays@gmail.com

Kumaar Holidays - About Aster Medcity

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Ph: 0091 7810896933 / 7810986933 

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A medical township comprising nine super-speciality hospitals - offering the latest state-of-the-art technology to treat a host of diseases including cancer - is coming up in Kochi with an eye to promote Kerala as a top medical health tourism destination.

Aster Medcity, which is being built on what was a huge garbage dumpyard, is to start functioning by March 2014. D.M. Healthcare, a big name in healthcare in Gulf countries, is building the complex on 38 acres of land at Cheranallur in Kochi.

Phase I of the complex, being built at a cost of $150 million, would have on offer 540 beds across the nine hospitals, Harish Pillai, chief executive officer Aster Medcity, told IANS.

The Aster Medcity plans to add another 500 beds later in Phase II. The township will have residential quarters, hotels, a convention centre, cafetarias, guest rooms and later also a home for the elderly, said Pillai.

"We are aiming to attract foreign health tourists to Aster Medcity. We have the latest facilities, including minimally invasive treatment and diagnostic techniques for the diagnosis and treatment of various cancers and heart diseases," Pillai told IANS.

India gets 150,000 medical tourists every year, and it is expected to grow by 15 percent annually, he said.

Among the latest technology that Aster will boast of is the 'True Beam' that provides radiation treatment in a shorter time and minus most of the usual side-effects of current treatment, said Pillai. The 'True Beam' technology is a radio-surgery treatment in which high-energy X-rays are used to destroy tumours.

"Conventional therapy takes a very long time, but this system delivers concentrated radiation with pinpoint accuracy on the tumour," Pillai said.

"As it is a concentrated high-dose treatment, the process is over in a few minutes for patients," he added.

An added advantage of the new system is that it uses 25 percent lower X-ray dosage compared to conventional ones. This reduces greatly the radiation exposure for patients.

"The conventional radiation therapies are accompanied by various side-effects, but with True Beam the impact of radiation is greatly minimized and it also doesn't impact the normal tissues," Pillai said.

The medcity will also have cardiac cath labs or catheterization laboratories - diagnostic imaging equipment used to visualise the arteries of the heart to detect any abnormalities. The cath labs will have an added advanced technology , called 'clarity', to reduce the radiation levels for patients, doctors and lab technicians, said Pillai.

This has been introduced keeping safety and efficiency as the hospital's top priority, he said.

"You would be surprised to know that so far there has been no study of how many cardiologists in the country acquire cancer due to long exposure to radiation. So this is the reason the cardiac cath labs with option of 'clarity' are being introduced," Pillai said.

The 'clarity' cardiac cath lab reduces radiation exposure by almost 73 percent.

"This is the newest technology that is being introduced in India for the first time," he said.

Another new technology being introduced is the hybrid byplane cath lab that can convert the imaging and diagnostic device into an operation theatre for any emergency surgery.

"Besides cardio, this technology would be used in interventional neuro-radiology cases. We will be bringing experts trained overseas for using this technology," Pillai said.

The medical township also has a large artificial lake in the complex, which adds to the pleasing environment of the township.