Tourism fraternity upbeat over amphibious bus project

The move will re-ignite interest in Kerala’s tourism sector, they feel

Members of the tourism fraternity have cheered the announcement in the recent State Budget of introducing amphibious buses in Kochi, Kollam, and Thalassery, hoping that the unique venture would re-ignite interest among guests in Kerala, whose tourism sector is neck-deep in crisis owing to the pandemic. Amphibious buses will bring in tourists who want to avoid roads and instead relish the State’s famed backwaters and picturesque waterfront. In Kochi, services can be operated from Marine Drive, which has ample space to build a berthing ramp, to heritage locales like Fort Kochi, where a ramp can be built near the ro-ro terminal, said S. Vijayakumar, Secretary, Ernakulam District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC). “It will also be a definite hit with high-end tourists of cruise ships that call at the Kochi International Cruise Terminal at dawn and leave at dusk. Many of these tourists who opt for heritage tour of the city can save considerable time if they opt for amphibious buses which can operate on both land and the backwaters and are hence called ‘duck buses’. They could even take guests all the way up to the international airport, in case they wanted to fly back to their country after a local tour,” he added.