THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Kerala is all set to host the country’s biggest tourism event, with Chief Minister inarayi Vijayan inaugurating the four day Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) on May 5.
Being held after a hiatus of two years caused by the COVID pandemic, the Mart will be attended by delegates from 69 countries to engage in 55,000 business interactions.
The KTM Society’s four-day fair in Kochi will kick off on May 5 with Tourism Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas chairing the function at Grand Hyatt in Bolgatty.
Adding glitz to the opening session will be a sample show of the second edition of Champions Boat League (CBL) being organised by Kerala Tourism. The IPL-modelled snake-boat race is scheduled to begin ahead of the Onam festival after the monsoon.
The day after the inauguration, the KTM-2022 venue will shift to the Willingdon Island, where Sagara and Samudrika convention centres will hold two days of hectic business meets. The concluding day on May 8 will provide public access to the pavilions in the two venues for five hours from 1 pm, organisers said at a press conference here last evening.
K S Srinivas, Principal Secretary, Kerala Tourism, said the post-pandemic situation is favourable for Kerala Tourism to regain its vitality and charm as other states are giving pretty good competition to Kerala. He added that KTM-2022 would set the stage for the state to showcase its strength in tourism sector before a global audience.
V R Krishna Teja, Director, Kerala Tourism, said the curtain-raiser of the second edition of Champions Boat League (CBL), caravan tourism and adventure tourism are some of the key attractions of KTM-2022, which will be conducted adhering to all safety protocols.
A green event spread over an area of 1.5 lakh square feet, KTM will facilitate 55,000 business interactions, KTM Society President Baby Mathew said. “While delegates from 69 countries are set to participate, KTM-2022 will have buyers from 25 states within the country. Domestic buyers total 1,000, while those from abroad will be no less than 240,” he said.
E M Najeeb, Past President of KTM Society, was also present at the press conference. Seminars on various topics led by officials, experts and stakeholders will also be held on the sidelines of the event. The mart will also feature exhibitions on key tourism themes.
Amid hopes of a revival in post-pandemic travel, KTM is expected to trigger attraction for visitors after two years of global slide. The meet will be attended by a large contingent of journalists, including 33 from abroad, and 75 vloggers.
Sustaining the spirit of the recent launch of the state government’s ‘Keravan Kerala’, the upcoming edition of KTM will have caravan tourism and adventure tourism among its focal themes. Alongside, the internationally-acclaimed Responsible Tourism, too, will receive prominent attention.
Organisers have charted a pre-KTM tour for vloggers and media delegates from within the country and abroad to show the variegated beauty of Kerala’s globally-acclaimed destinations. There will also be a similar post-event tour for select buyers attending the mart.
Already an encouraging number of international and domestic buyers have registered for KTM, which is also set to give prominence to the government’s tourism initiatives in upstate Malabar.
Last year, the KTM had organized a virtual summit in March, facilitating more than 7,000 business interactions that enabled the travel industry to take major strides in overcoming the COVID-triggered economic crisis. That online event saw a virtual buyers’ meet with participants from across the world, including India.
KTM Society, constituted in 2000, is the country’s biggest organisation in the travel and tourism segment, has been working towards reviving the industry since the spread of the novel coronavirus two years ago.
