The times have changed, trends too, and the number of holiday trips has increased. It’s quite the in-thing to take off to some holiday destination even if the breaks are short. Families have now overtaken unhitched youngsters in their zest to trek the hills and forests. Whether it is to hill, dale or vale, they are all over the place, entire families. People are no more bothered by impossibilities or constraints on travel and stay. They are just into them. With the number of tourists, adventure-seekers and short-trip lovers on an upward spiral, it’s becoming quite a challenge for players in the field to come up with innovative and exciting offers.
A new thought in tourism
Kochi-native Prabhil and “Kannurkkaran” Suraj have struck a different pose. What fun would concrete to concrete be? From concrete homes in cities and towns to concrete dwellings by the sea, hilltops, woods or plantations were not the stuff their dreams were made of. What should be the offers on for weekend holiday makers? Fresh, happy, healthy and safe trips far from the madding crowd into the deep woods, cardamom plantations, seaside, hilltops or places less seen would be the ideal outings. This was the foundation on which the duo built their plans. Their plans had to have that whiff of freshness unlike the stale and unimaginative regular tourism packages. Folks who wanted to feast on unseen scenic spots should be given the chance of a lifetime. All these factors weighed in when Prabhil and Suraj came up with the “camping” concept. And what an idea! It just took off. Camp holidays have now become a hit among the young crowd of IT professionals and others.
Campper
Behind the online startup called Campper, lies novel ideas and concepts aplenty. There’s no dearth of material today for travelers and tourists. An ocean of possibilities is just a mouse-click away. Campper is no different. It has all the features of a regular travel portal. To go beyond stereotyping was the challenge the boys took up. All those who checked in to Campper were not led into bricks and mortar set ups. Their holiday homes were safe and strong tents in the outdoors where they could spend a weekend in absolute safety with the accompanying facilities of parking lots and toilets. No backwoods deal, this! Home-made food and wi fi too on a platter inside the tents!
Hill station camps
The youngsters have over a hundred eco-friendly campsites all over India. They directly run more than 20 such sites in the southern states. In Kerala, the facilities offered are in Munnar, Vagamon, Wayand, Ponmudi, Vandiperiyar, Mankulam, Yellappadi, Chittar and Ramakkalmedu. Campper’s scouting team makes a round of all the sites every six months for a review when they assess current facilities, get feedback and address shortcomings.
Weather no problem at all
The weather has not weighed in as a problem. There are facilities for all-round-the-year bookings. Prabhil and Suraj say they have made full use of IT-enabled services to run their show. Folks can make bookings to their special locations at their convenience. Pay Rs 999 for a night’s stay which includes food as well. And this comes with the added luxury of having a host to help you out at each campsite.
The host provides you all comfort and familiarizes you with the specialties of the place and all the fun it can offer. Apart from the comfortable stay, most campsites offer fun outings like trekking, fishing, jeep safaris and adventure sports.
Feasting on Nature
Campper believes in living close to Nature without destroying its pristine beauty. Its intention is to tap this unadulterated tourism potential to the maximum. Their best clients are bikers and the techie crowd. Within a year of the startup, more than a thousand holiday seekers have sought their help and made use of this novel setup, the boys say. It was quite heartening to know that almost all of them came in with their families … right from a toddler to a 70-year-old.
Prabhil was into IT and has over 14 years experience with several project management services, while Suraj carries more than 16 years of service in IT and banking sectors.
Campper was incubated through state government consultancy firm Kitco. The young men intend to throw open Kerala’s vast untapped potential for eco-tourism through IT-enabled services.
Campper has the wide vision of taking fun-seekers to scenic spots, the likes of which are seen in English movies or visualized through books. The plan is to cut down on cost too. What’s more, the boys have thrown open an invitation to those who hold land in attractive spots where they can open up camps, thereby ensuring for themselves an income out of it. Prabhil and Suraj are all ready to offer help to enterprising takers.
