Tourism Development Plan for Munnar Special Tourism Zone, Kerala

Project Info

  • Category

    Masterplan Urban and Rural Planning Environmental Studies Tourism Planning Suistainable Tourism Development

The project envisages the preparation of relevant guidelines to ensure a sustainable tourism development in this popular hill tourism destination, which has been declared a Special Tourism Zone by the state. The need was to enable the government to implement Land Use Planning Regulations for Munnar, for areas either partly or fully under tourism use, and GITPAC was asked to accomplish the following:

  • Understanding the present tourism scenario of Munnar Region
  • Detailed Tourism Resource Mapping
  • Spatial Mapping of Munnar STZ
  • Strategies, tools and guidelines to manage Conservation & Development
  • Tourism Development Proposals & Conservation Plans

The project envisages the preparation of a Tourism Development Plan based on a sustainable and replicable approach that can be adopted for building an organic and sustained relationship between the ecology of the region and tourism development. In order to achieve this GITPAC developed the ‘Ecology–Tourism Matrix (ETM) model, which has received international recognition. The ETM model utilizes aid of two indices, namely; Tourism Attractiveness Index (TAI) and Ecological Sensitivity Index (ESI), and assigns a value for each tourism node within the region, based on which the following strategies and proposals are drawn:

*      Controlling and guiding development activities within the STZ

*      Tailoring tourism development in line with the unique natural characteristics

*      Plans for conservation and preservation of natural & cultural heritage

*      Ensuring a fine balance of economic, social and environmental preservation

*      Plans to upkeep or sustain visitor satisfaction versus environmental conservation

 

  OUTCOME:

*         Land Use Plan for the Munnar Special Tourism Zone

*         Specific Projects for Tourism Product development

*         Circulation Plan development

*         Specific tourism infrastructure development projects

*         Projects for Conservation and Preservation

*         Strategies for private sector participation

*         Implementation and monitoring mechanism