Majority of wellness Ayurveda players outside Kerala Tourism’s classification

Even though Kerala is the main center of Ayurveda, the traditional healing system that attracts both international and domestic tourists, only a few players in the industry have registered with Kerala Tourism.

The tourism department has recently introduced a classification system for Ayurvedic wellness centres, dividing them into Ayur Silver, Ayur Gold and Ayur Diamond categories based on their facilities and service quality.

However, only less than 60 actors have registered for the division, while more than 150 are actively operating in the industry in Kerala without any classification.

two reasons

Sajeev Kurup, general secretary of the Confederation of Kerala Tourism Industries (CKTI) and chairman of the Ayurveda Task Force of FICCI national tourism committee, said: Hindu He said there were two main reasons for the poor record for classification. An Ayurvedic wellness tourism center can operate with a license issued by the Local Self-Government department or with accreditation provided by the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH). There is no regulation required by the Tourism or Health directorates for the centres.

Secondly, he said that the strict norm imposed by the Tourism department that therapists who pass out from government colleges must register to get the classification has deterred most people from applying for the classification as almost 40-50 therapists pass out from government colleges every year.

There is also a system for existing players to bring tourists to their centers, with agencies helping tourists choose the centers. Mr Kurup said even independent travelers who reach the State choose centers through personal references or Google reviews. However, the state government’s classification is good for the industry.

“We have taken up the issue with the Tourism department to relax the provisions and take into account the experience of therapists for classification,” Mr. Kurup added.

There are over 125 medium and large players in the wellness Ayurveda industry and more than two dozen traditional Ayurve hospitals in Kerala. Massage centers and spas have been mushrooming lately, making money for wellness and traditional Ayurveda centres; These centers, which do not offer any Ayurvedic treatment, attract ‘pleasure seekers’. They were using Ayurveda imagery or names similar to traditional players for better search engine optimization to increase traffic to their headquarters. There are more than 100 such centers in Kochi alone.

Healthy life tourism meeting

However, the Tourism department’s classification will provide greater visibility to wellness tourism players; The department will disseminate details of registered players through Kerala Tourism’s website and publish videos and brochures at national and international tourism fairs as part of promoting the State’s traditional medicine system. Additionally, the ministry plans to organize a wellness tourism convention in the state soon to promote Ayurveda, officials said.