Kerala Tourism has selected 25 travel bloggers from 13 countries through an online contest. The winners will travel aboard Kerala Blog Express, a luxury bus arranged by Kerala Tourism, and write about their experience on their blogs.
The winners, chosen from 600 participants, were announced by Minister for Tourism A.P. Anil Kumar at a press conference here on Wednesday.
The Kerala Blog Express will be flagged off by Mr. Anil Kumar from the capital on March 10. The bus will touch tourist destinations up to Kasaragod in a road trip lasting two weeks.
The winners are from the United States, India, Brazil, the Philippines, Germany, Spain, Indonesia, Denmark, Mexico, Poland, Italy, and Portugal. Many of the bloggers such as Inma Gregorio (Spain), Nelson Carvalheiro (Germany), Oscar Augusto (Brazil), and Gael Hilton (the Philippines) enjoy worldwide following and have been featured on international travel magazines.
The Minister said it was one of the biggest tourism promotions to be undertaken with the help of social media. Tourism Secretary Suman Billa said the State hoped to leverage social media and promote its tourism globally in the next six months.
The luxury bus, arranged specially for the campaign, will take the participants from Thiruvananthapuram to Kovalam before going to Varkala.
The bus will also travel to the backwaters in Alappuzha and Kumarakom, where the visitors are expected to get a first-hand experience of village life.
The bloggers will also visit Kerala Kalamandalam where they will be introduced to classic art forms.
Other destinations include Thekkady, Bekal fort, Fort Kochi, and Mattancherry. They will also be introduced to Ayurveda.
The bus will be equipped with cutting-edge connectivity to help the bloggers give real-time updates, Mr. Billa said.
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