Kochi:: Kerala plans to invigorate tourism in Malabar by renewing its focus on the travel map of the region, said Shri V.R. Krishna Teja, Director Kerala Tourism.
The department is developing tourism destinations upstate and making full use of them, said V.R. Krishna Teja during a visit to Kochi to oversee the preparations for next month’s Kerala Travel Mart (KTM)
Alongside its emphasis on Malabar, Kerala Tourism is giving worldwide publicity to its renewed post-pandemic activities such as Caravan Tourism, Champions Boat League and Responsible Tourism, Shri Teja said, pointing out. These have been accorded priority at the four-day KTM 2022 that is to be inaugurated on May 5.
Chief Minister Shri Pinarayi Vijayan will declare the KTM open at Grand Hyatt in Bolgatty, while the venues for the subsequent proceedings will be Sagara and Samudrika convention centres at Willingdon Island, Kochi.
“Unlike the previous edition, KTM 2022 has more specialised segments. We have sellers who are into core tourism activities such caravan, houseboats, ayurveda, adventure, plantation and backwater resorts besides wedding destination and MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions)” Shri Teja said, underscoring that the event has buyers from 69 countries and 25 states of the country.
Ernakulam District Collector Jafar Malik who was present during the visit told that the participation of delegates from nearly six dozen nations at the upcoming KTM will raise Kochi’s reputation as a travel destination the world over. “We will be able to present our tourism products to an international audience,”. The district administration is extending full-fledged support and cooperation to the KTM.
Caravan tourism and, products like digital marketing that have gained new vitality after Covid-19 will be highlighted during the event.
KTM Society President Shri Baby Mathew was present during the occasion.
To boost Malabar tourism, KTM Society will be taking the event’s buyers from Kochi to upstate Kannur on chartered flights.
The 2000-constituted KTM Society, which is the country’s biggest organization in the travel and tourism segment, has been working towards reviving the industry since the spread of the novel coronavirus in the state two years ago.
