Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran will inaugurate the Homestay and Rural Tourism Mart 2017 at Bolghatty Palace Convention Centre on Friday at 5 p.m.
K.V. Thomas, MP, will preside over the function. The event is being organised by Kerala Homestay and Tourism Society in association with the Central and State tourism departments. Tourism directors and delegates from across the world have already reached the city.
The event, which is being organised in alternative years, will conclude on September 17. The last edition held in 2015 featured around 60 stalls and 150-odd travel agencies and proved to be a great help for the entrepreneurs in the sector, M.P. Sivadattan, director of Kerala Homestay and Tourism Society, said.
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Around 129 stalls are being organised for this year’s Business2Business meet. The buyer-seller meet will be held on Saturday.
About 800 buyers from within the country and outside are expected. Delegates from countries such as Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand will attend the meet.
Besides, travel agencies and tour operators from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Jaipur, and Punjab will participate. Three seminars will be held in this connection. Former principal of the Kerala Institute of Tourism and Travel Studies, B. Vijayakumar, will lead a seminar on the “Role of homestays and serviced villas in promoting rural tourism in Kerala”; Aparna Nair will make a presentation on Booking.com; Travel Planner CEO Anish Kumar will lead a seminar on “Digital marketing in tourism sector”; Nayana Venukumar will lead a seminar on airbnb and Abraham Ren will lead a seminar on “GST and homestays and serviced villas”.
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Public entry will be free for the inaugural function and between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. on the concluding day.