Spaniards had a brush with the grandeur of God’s Own Country as Kerala showcased its various facets of life and culture at the just-concluded FITUR 2019 in Madrid, the world’s second largest tourism-and-travel fair.
The pavilion of Kerala Tourism, built on the themes of ‘Houseboats’, ‘Backwaters’, and ‘Mohiniyattam performance’, drew a large number of visitors at the five-day travel meet, which concluded on Sunday.
The Kerala stall showcased the serene beaches, emerald backwaters, coconut palms, and houseboats. There was also live Mohiniyattam at the pavilion.
Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran inaugurated the pavilion along with Indian Ambassador to Spain Sanjay Verma.
Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism; Rani George, Secretary, Tourism; Saravanan Balasubramanian, Second Secretary, Embassy of India, and Jeeva Maria Joy, Third Secretary, Press Information and Culture, Embassy of India in Madrid, were present.
“FITUR 2019 was a major international tourism event for Kerala after it suffered huge losses in the wake of last year’s natural calamity. We sent the message across that the State has fully overcome the impact of the calamity and has been attracting tourists from across the globe since then,” the Minister said.
Changing demands
During the fair, the Tourism Minister and Ms. George held a series of meetings with key trade and media representatives at the event to further boost tourism potential of the State.
“On the basis of inputs we got at the fair, we will try to find innovative solutions to the changing demands of the market,” the Tourism Secretary said.
The Kerala delegation included three trade partners from the private sector — CGH Group of Hotels, Pioneer Travels and Xandari. As many as 886 stand-holder exhibitors and 10,487 companies from 165 countries and regions attended.
This was for the 15th year in a row that Kerala Tourism participated in FITUR.
