The year 2015 seems to be a great year for Kerala as Kerala Tourism has conducted a series of roadshows in overseas markets. During the year, Kerala has organized roadshows in Germany, Moscow, Shangahi, Warsaw, Japan, London, Oman and Bahrain among others. The objective is to push the inbound arrivals which currently stand at around 1 million. Moreover, Kerala has also participated in various travel marts overseas to showcase its tourism products to the global travel market.
Kerala recently held roadshows in Oman and Bahrain, an official release said. While the show in Oman was held at Grand Hyatt in Muscat on November 23, it took place at the Intercontinental Regency in Bahrain’s capital Manama on November 25. “The Middle East is of special significance to us. We have ties with the Gulf region dating back to centuries. This is a region close to us also because of the large number of our people working in these countries,” the Minister said.
“As the world’s third largest economy, Japan is a very important market for us,” said Kerala Tourism Minister A P Anil Kumar at the first Kerala roadshow in Japan in October. “The road show in Tokyo is a significant step for us to position our state as a top destination for Japanese travellers as well as a MICE destination for CEOs of its major companies to conduct meetings and conferences,” he added. Kerala also organized roadshows in October in London. “Our objective is to present the ‘Best of Kerala’, its natural beauty and rich culture and heritage, to our distinguished visitors from around the world so that we can contribute to the development of our state and empowerment of our communities,” the Minister had said.
Interestingly, Kerala organized a raodshow in Shanghai in June this year. “After our impressive successes in capturing the European market, it is only a logical step for us to enter the huge market in China in our backyard,” Anil Kumar said, referring to the foray by Kerala Tourism into China, a vast market for outbound tourists in the world. “We are confident that by tapping into the vast Chinese market, we will be able to substantially increase foreign tourist arrivals in our state,” he added.
Meanwhile, Kerala has already geared up for the 2016 edition of Kerala Travel Mart (KTM), which is the largest gathering of tourism stakeholders in the state, will be held in Kochi in end-September with focus on Responsible Tourism. Informing this, Anil Kumar said the Samudrika Convention Centre will be the venue for the September 28-30 event being held by Kerala Travel Mart Society, in partnership with the state’s Tourism Department. KTM 2016 is expected to attract nearly 1,100 buyers from around the country and abroad, he told a media conference, while briefing about the ninth edition of the annual event for which the registrations will start in January. “KTM 2016 will reach out to buyers from new markets like Australia, Austria, Brazil, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Middle East, Norway, Poland, South Africa, Sweden and USA, with special emphasis on raising the quality of participation next year,” he added. KTM, the minister noted, has contributed largely to the development of tourism industry in the state. “As the responsible tourism campaign titled ‘God’s Own Country, People’s Own Tourism’ goes, we hope to popularise the concept among the common man,” he said.
