The tourist season for Kerala was far from impressive this year with a marked drop in the number of foreign and domestic tourists. Most of the tour operators in Fort Kochi are pinning their hopes on the Cochin Carnival for more tourist arrivals in the next two weeks. During the Christmas and New Year seasons, Fort Kochi draws a lot of foreign tourists with most of the hotels and homestays registering near full occupancy. But this year things were bleak and the regular tourist crowd was missing even from the main hot spots like Fort Kochi and surroundings.
Meanwhile the carnival committee is not leaving anything to chance and the efforts are on to make the carnival a big success. Both the sides of roads from Veli to Fort kochi are being decorated with lights and stars to welcome the tourists to the area. This year , a novel competition to select the best decorated and painted house has generated a lot of interest among the local community. A kayaking contest is also being introduced this year. The beach bike race at the Veli ground is expected to bring in scores of biking enthusiasts while the swimmers can vie for the prestigious title in the Fort Kochi-|Vypeen swimming contest. The other attraction of the Carnival include tableaux and the traditional art forms of Kerala.
Additional police forces have been deployed to prevent any untoward instances and street lighting along the beach and the walkways have already been completed. Will the Cochin Carnival bring back the tourist surge in Fort Kochi- the next few days will unravel the answer for this million dollar query!
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