Soon, robotic information kiosks to replace tourist information centres in Kerala 

Kerala Tourism to replace tourist information centres with robotics/automatic kiosks, offering digitalized information such as distance to various destinations, key attractions, packages, etc.

With the virtual world redefining the online experience and the world being at the fingertip of people, Kerala Tourism is planning to replace tourist information centres with robotics/automatic information kiosks.

In the initial phase, tourist information centres at railway stations will be replaced with automatic information kiosks. As part of this, the Tourism department has issued an order to close the tourist information centres in Thiruvananthapuram and Varkala railway stations due to a lack of visitors to these centres in recent times.

Introducing the robotics/automatic information kiosks at railway stations is part of digitalising the information centres, said Tourism Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas. The department has also sought a report from the Director of Tourism for replacing the information centres with automatic information kiosks.

These kiosks will provide all the information a tourist is looking for in Kerala with a couple of user-friendly clicks, including distance to various destinations, key attractions, packages, etc.

The staff deputed in these centres can be deployed for other purposes, said officials.

At present, Kerala tourism has information centres in all the districts in the State, including airports, major railway stations and district headquarters, apart from information centres in States like West Bengal, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, New Delhi, and Tamil Nadu. 

Further, Kerala Tourism and various district administrations have launched a number of apps including the 24x7 WhatsApp chatbot ‘Maya’ that enables tourists to access all information and updates about the tourism ecosystem in the State. Another application launched by the State acts as a real-time audio guide to provide users with five attractions around their current location on a regular basis while they are on the move.

The QR-code based virtual travel guide launched a couple of years ago also imparts information on tourism locations in the State to the visitors. The virtual guide provides information on popular and lesser known tourism locales apart from information on tour packages and their bookings to the visitors upon scanning the QR code displayed at tourism locales and at airports. District administrations had also launched apps such as ‘Kottayam Tourism’ that can be downloaded from Play Store and a mobile app called VIBJYOR to guide tourists who reach the hill station of Munnar by the Idukki district administration. The evolving global trends do not warrant the functioning of traditional information centres, said officials.

Published - October 05, 2024 08:31 pm IST