Majority of wellness Ayurveda players outside Kerala Tourism’s classification

Though Kerala is the main hub of the traditional healing system of medicine, Ayurveda, which attracts both international and domestic tourists, only a few players in the sector have registered with Kerala Tourism.

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

However, only less than 60 players have registered with the department, while over 150 are actively operating in the sector in Kerala without any classification.

Two reasons

Sajeev Kurup, general secretary of the Confederation of Kerala Tourism Industries (CKTI) and the chairman of the Ayurveda Task Force of FICCI’s national tourism committee, told The Hindu that there were two major reasons for the poor registration for classification. An Ayurveda wellness tourism centre could work with the licence issued by the Local Self- Government department or the accreditation provided by the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH). There is no mandatory regulation for the centres by the Tourism or Health departments.

Second, the stringent norm fixed by the Tourism department that therapists who passed out from government colleges should be enrolled to get the classification dissuaded many from applying for the classification, as hardly 40-50 therapists pass out each year from government colleges, he said.

Besides, there is a system for the existing players to bring tourists to their centres, with agents helping the tourists to choose the centres. Even independent travellers who reach the State choose the centres through personal references or Google reviews, said Mr. Kurup. However, the classification by the State government is good for the industry.

“We have taken up the matter with the Tourism department, seeking to relax the provision and count the experience of the therapists for classification,” added Mr. Kurup.  

There are over 125 medium and big players in the wellness Ayurveda sector, and over two dozen traditional Ayurved hospitals in Kerala. Of late, the mushrooming massage centres and spas are giving the wellness and traditional Ayurveda centres a run for their money, with these centres without any Ayurveda treatments attracting ‘pleasure seekers’. They used to use the image of Ayurveda or names resembling the traditional players for better search engine optimisation to increase traffic to their centres. In Kochi alone, there are over 100 such centres.

Wellness tourism conclave

However, the Tourism department's classification will give more visibility to wellness tourism players, with the department disseminating the details of registered players through the Kerala Tourism's website and releasing videos and brochures at national and international tourism fairs as part of promoting the State’s traditional medicine system. Further, the department is planning to hold a wellness tourism conclave in the State soon to give publicity to Ayurveda, said the officials.