Thiruvananthapuram: The Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala, is all set to kick start its five-month long promotional campaign in the high-potential domestic markets. Kerala Tourism has plans to conduct 15 B2B meets across domestic markets in order to attract the maximum number of domestic travellers to its various destinations.
The phase I of the ambitious promotional campaign 2018-2019 would commence with the Travel & Tourism Fair in Kolkata from July 6-8, followed by the tourism partnership meets in Bhubaneshwar (Odisha) and Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh) on July 10 and 12, respectively. Kerala Tourism would tap the Karnataka market with IITM Bengaluru (July 27-29) and Gujarat with three partnership meets in Ahmedabad (July 31), Vadodara (August 1) and Surat (August 3) each. Further, it would organize partnership meets in Lucknow (August 14) and Indore (August 17), followed by trade fair – TTF Ahmedabad (September 7-9).
Kadakampally Surendran, Minister for Cooperation, Tourism and Devaswoms, Government of Kerala, stated, “Following the ambitious promotional campaign, the Tourism Department aims to promote the state’s tourism across potential domestic markets.”
“Simultaneously, Kerala Tourism would continue to keep focusing on exploring the tourism potential of pristine Northern Kerala. Through domestic B2B meets, we are hopeful to showcase the rich cultural heritage of the state across the country.”
Highlighting the growth of domestic tourist arrivals, Rani George IAS, Secretary, Tourism & Culture, Government of Kerala stated, “The Tourism Department has set an ambitious target of increasing domestic tourist arrivals by 50% by year 2021 and through this promotional campaign, it is our endeavor to encourage domestic tourist arrivals during monsoon.”
Additionally, Kerala Tourism has plans to promote its tourism potential in Maharashtra through conducting partnership meets in Nagpur (October 3), TTF Mumbai from October 5-7 along with partnership meets in Pune (October 9) and Mumbai (October 12). The first phase of the domestic B2B meets would culminate with IITM Hyderabad (November 23-25), tapping the Telangana market.
P. Bala Kiran, IAS, Director, Kerala Tourism, said, “Through road shows and travel fairs, we aim to establish new trade connections across the potential markets. Such partnership meets provide an opportunity for the tourism Trade in the respective markets to interact and develop business relationship with tourism industry players from Kerala.”
Districts like Alappuzha, Idukki, Wayanad, Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam had attracted the maximum number of domestic tourists in 2017. The state had hosted a significant number of travellers from southern states – Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Karnataka stood at the second position 9.33 lakh tourists, while Maharashtra stood at third slot with 5.47 lakh tourists.
There had also been a significant increase in tourist arrivals from Delhi (18.67% increase) and Gujarat (24.48% increase) with 2,40,672 and 2,39,228 travellers.
