Kerala Tourism organises a Partnership Meet in Chennai
Kerala Tourism organises a Partnership Meet in Chennai
Kerala
shifts into high gear with a brand new tourism policy and an assorted fare of
tourism products.
Chennai, March 06th,
2018: Responsible
Tourism, which began modestly in the palm-fringed backwaters of Kumarakom in
2008 as an experiment, has today mushroomed and fleshed out as the motto of
Kerala’s Tourism module. With a newly founded Responsible Tourism Mission and Kumarakom bagging the prestigious Responsible Tourism Award at the World Travel Mart, London, it is
no wonder that the New Tourism Policy
unveiled by Kerala focuses in depth at sustainable tourism initiatives. The
policy also forms a major highlight of this year’s domestic campaign. The
revamped fare with an array of new tourism products was showcased at Chennai today.
“To ensure the accomplishment of an ambitious target of a 100% increase in arrival of foreign tourists and 50% in domestic tourists in five years, a tourism regulatory authority has been formed. This would help put a stop to any unhealthy practices and guarantee better intervention of the Tourism Department through scrutiny and a licensing system,” said Shri. Kadakampally Surendran, Hon’ble Minister for Tourism, Govt. of Kerala.
Kerala, voted the Best Family Destination by Lonely Planet, the Best Leisure Destination by Conde Nast Traveller and winner of 6 National Tourism Awards in 2016, offers the much-needed succour and adrenaline rush to its adventure-seeking traveler. Kayaking, trekking, paragliding, river rafting are a few activities that form a part of the Eco-Adventure package.
And
with the 5th edition of Kerala Blog
Express, a unique social media outreach that brings together international
bloggers and influencers just around the
corner, Kerala is gearing up to welcome every kind of traveler. Kerala Blog
Express starts on 12th of March.
Scheduled in the later half of the year, is another
major B2B event, the Kerala Travel Mart.
KTM, India’s first Travel & Tourism mart that has over the years helped
showcase Kerala to the world, brings the business fraternity and the entrepreneurs
behind Kerala's unparalleled tourism products and services, on a single
platform to network and develop business. The 10th edition of this 4 day event
begins on 27th Sept, which is also celebrated as International Tourism Day.
New product focus
For art
aficionados, the state endorses the dreamy lanes of Fort Kochi and a pilgrimage
to the Kochi Muziris Biennale, which
has changed the landscape of contemporary Indian art today and has helped make
Kochi, the art capital of India.
For
history buffs looking to transport themselves to another era, there is the Muziris Heritage Project. The remains
of a once thriving port offering pepper, gold, silk and ivory, frequented by
Arabs, Romans, Egyptians as early as the first century BC is today preserved
across 25 museums as the largest heritage conservation project in India.
Another
offering in the historical space is the Spice
Route Project that rekindles the 2000-year old ancient sea links and shared
cultural legacies with 30 countries. This UNESCO-backed endeavor has been
designed to re-establish Kerala’s maritime associations with the countries on
the Spice Route and to revive cultural, historical and archaeological exchanges
between these countries.
The State has already
registered a remarkable increase in international and domestic tourist arrivals
during 2016. While international tourist arrivals to Kerala during the year
2016 was 10,38,419 - an increase of 6.25% over the previous year’s, the
domestic tourist arrival was 1,31,72,535 and marked a 5.67% increase. The total
revenue has also seen a whopping increase of 11.12% over the last year’s
figure.
"Most foreign
tourists flock to Kerala to experience its cultural heritage but what we are trying
to showcase is the idea that our culture isn’t limited to performances on
stage. It is ingrained in our way of life and the department is taking small
but significant steps towards helping a traveller experience the richness of
Kerala, be it our temple festivals, cuisine, rural crafts, folk forms or
traditional and popular art forms," said Smt. Rani George, IAS, Secretary (Tourism), Govt of Kerala.
To reach out to the
domestic market, a string of Partnership Meets are being organized in Mumbai,
Pune, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Chennai,
Kolkata, Patna & New Delhi in the 1st quarter of 2018. Partnership
Meets like these provide an opportunity for the tourism Trade in the respective
cities to interact, establish contact and develop business relationship with a
cross section of tourism industry players from Kerala.
A combination of a
cultural feast of Kerala’s traditional dance forms and its attractive tourism
products was showcased at today’s Partnership Meet. Dhrisya Thalam, a visual feast
that showcases the various dance forms of Kerala was presented alongside, to
unveil the life and folklore of God’s Own Country.
Further details can
be found on the Kerala Tourism website www.keralatourism.org
or please write to contact@keralatourismmarketing.org
Comments
Post a Comment