Kerala Tourism | Kerala Tourism woos emerging global markets

Kerala Tourism woos emerging global markets like Australia and Scandinavia

Go Kerala contest, Kerala tourism, Kerala Tourism Department, roadshows at Sydney and Melbourne, Scandinavian countries, tourism director Rani George, tourism policy of State, tourism secretary T.K Manoj Kumar

As part of the proposed tourism policy of State, Kerala Tourism woos emerging global markets. Tourism department is pushing hard for visibility in countries like Australia and Scandinavia as these destinations are said to be less affected by the economic crisis looming over Europe.

After a gap of six years, the State Tourism Department recently led a delegation to Australia accompanied by Kerala Tourism Director Rani George, Manoj Kumar, IAS, and representatives from the industry such as Cosmos Tours & Travels, Kairali Ayurvedic Health Resort, Kumarakom Lake Resort, Kerala Travel Center, and Uday Samudra Leisure Beach Hotel, among others.

The roadshows held on October 25 and 26 at Sydney and Melbourne saw Department officials make presentations on what made Kerala, a tourism Super-brand across the globe. They also included screening of the much-acclaimed ad film ‘Your Moment is Waiting,’. It also organised two workshops and facilitated business-to-business interactions with travel agents and tour operators. A ‘Go Kerala contest’ in collaboration with Silk Air and Singapore Airlines was held to generate brand awareness.

In Sydney, around 75 tour operators and travel agents took part while at Melbourne 60 had turned up. Many of them had evinced keen interest to visit Kerala and explore to take ahead possible business tie-ups. Australia is an emerging market for Kerala with 36, 854 arrivals in 2010, making it the fifth biggest market.

The tourism secretary T.K Manoj Kumar has his travel calendar full. He and tourism planning officer U V Jose are participating in the Scandinavian countries also. The department is holding workshops in Oslo, Copenhagen, Helsinki and Stockholm from November 14 to 17.