BANGALORE:
In a development that will delight travellers, Cleartrip, India’s leading travel and leisure platform, has tied up with the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) as its exclusive online booking partner for local tours and activities.
Under the association, KTDC will sell all of its exclusive set of activities through the Cleartrip platform, including both existing and new inventory of conducted tours and boat trips. The partnership is also Cleartrip’s first with a government tourism board, marking a major milestone for the online travel agency.
The Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) is a public sector undertaking that conducts and regulates various tourism activities in Kerala, along with promoting it as a leading tourist destination. Among the most popular activities offered by KTDC is the boating in Periyar Lake at Thekkady. KTDC operates four boats with a seating capacity of 210 each and completes five trips in a day, with a total daily inventory of 1,050 seats. Despite maintaining 90% occupancy throughout the year, these trips were only available for offline bookings till now.
With 700 more seats expected to be added to these boating tours by September 2018, KTDC is looking to make it easier for prospective travellers to access and book its travel inventory through the association with Cleartrip. The government tourism board has also recently launched conducted tours in the historic towns of Trivandrum and Kochi. These activities will also be available for booking on the Cleartrip platform.
Commenting on the association,Ankit Rastogi, VP- Experiences and Accommodation, Cleartrip, said, “Kerala holds a significant place in India’s tourism map. We are delighted to be chosen by the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation as its online booking partner. The biggest benefit of this tie-up will be to the travellers, who now can access and book all of KTDC’s inventory of tours and activities online on a single platform. We hope that this partnership will spur more such associations where Cleartrip partners with other government tourism promoters to make their offerings available through its online portal, thus delivering greater value and convenience to all stakeholders.”
Rajmohan, Marketing Manager, KTDC, commented, “Our goal is to extend greater convenience in terms of planning and booking these popular activities. We have recently launched a new set of conducted tours to highlight local experiences which best convey the state’s distinct culture and heritage. Planned activities, tours, and adventure experiences give us a chance to showcase our natural assets in a different way and appeal to newer audiences, especially younger travellers.
Cleartrip’s pioneering efforts in the tours and activities space made it our first choice when it came to choosing a partner to help us connect with and engage young travellers.”
Cleartrip offers travellers the option to choose from more than 15,000 experiences, catering to 200+ interests across 50+ cities. With the most comprehensive set of activities across several popular and lesser-known destinations in India, the travel portal enjoys the unique position of being the foremost choice of travellers when it comes to hyperlocal activities and experiences.
