Cooperative society marks its presence in tourism with luxury resort at Wayanad

A luxury resort with five-star class facilities that has come at Wayanad in Kerala is considered to be the first of its type venture by a cooperative society in the country.

Kerala Land Reforms and Development Cooperative Society, brand named Ladder, set up with the aim of providing residential complexes at affordable rates, is now venturing into the hospitality sector. Apart from the five-star resort at Wayanad that made a soft launch on Tuesday, Ladder already has a business class hotel In Thiurvananthapuram and a second one coming up in its hometown Kozhikode, apart from several housing projects and commercial complex.

The resort and spa at Sultan Bathery in Wayanad has been named Saptha - denoting the seven principles of the cooperative movement.

Situated around 100 kilometres from Mysore and Ooty, the Rs 100 crore project is expected to be an attraction of the Wayanad - Mysore - Ooty tourism circuit. It has 64 rooms and luxury amenities like infinity pools, a mini theatre, and a convention hall in the lush green wild of Wayanad.

Founder chairman of Ladder C N Vijaykrishnan said that it was the first such venture in tourism sector by a cooperative movement. Though Ladder was formed to curb the exploitation in the real estate and construction sectors, now it was proving the strength of the cooperative movement, said Vijayakrishnan, who played key role in many successful cooperative ventures in Kerala. He is a leader of the Community Marxist Party founded by CPM dissident leader M V Raghavan.

Incidentally, the success story of a cooperative movement in Kerala is coming at a time when cooperatives sector in Kerala is under scanner after major frauds by cooperative banks and the Centre making attempts to have its control on the cooperative sector by forming an independent ministry. The CPM and left parties were having an upper hand in the cooperative sector of Kerala and the state has many institutions like hospitals and colleges in the cooperative sector.