Kerala hopes to achieve a 15 to 20 per cent growth in tourist arrivals in the coming year, Tourism Secretary V. Venu has said.
Addressing mediapersons on the final day of the sixth edition of Kerala Travel Mart here on Sunday, he said that the KTM of 2008 too generated good business, as can be seen from the increase in tourist arrivals to Kerala in the two subsequent years. The quality of buyers too is increasing over the years, he said.
Answering a question on the business generated at the mart, he said that it would be difficult to quantify this since the sellers of Kerala's tourism products and the national/international buyers interact, and strike bilateral deals.
On the crisis facing many homestays because of the hiked taxes and power tariff, Mr. Venu said that many such issues are being taken care of. They can install a separate meter for the homestay portion of the house.
Free space
“Since they encounter problems in marketing their properties, we have included many homestays in the official website of Kerala Tourism. We are doing whatever possible to help out the tiny segment in the State's tourism sector, especially homestays and people who own a single houseboat. A proof is the 108 table spaces we earmarked at the mart for stakeholders who cannot afford stalls,” he said.
Action plan
Tourism Director M Shivsankar called upon the organisers to begin planning for the mart many years in advance. “We need an action plan for the next ten years,” he said.
The immediate past president of the KTM Society, E. M. Najeeb said that the mart has been able to keep alive the interest of tourists in the State.
“Our aim is to increase the State's revenue from tourism from the present Rs. 13,000 crore to Rs. 16,000 crore in the coming year. Taking a cue from KTM, the Government of India too plans to host an India Tourism Mart,” he said
The Society's president Riaz Ahmed said that players in the hospitality sector, tour operators, India Tourism and a few airlines shared their resources free of cost for the mart.
The cultural fiesta organised in connection with the mart's inauguration came up for special praise.
The agency's CEO Mathew Philip said that the mart was a success despite being held in a virgin venue – the KTDC-owned Bolghatty Palace Hotel.
The KTDC Chairman Cherian Philip said that delegation of responsibility and joint effort by different stakeholders paid dividends. He reminded the mediapersons that the erstwhile kings of Travancore and Kochi were pioneers in tourism promotion, in their own way.
