Ten popular domestic bloggers from across the country have started blogging about God’s Own Country from Thursday as part of Kerala Tourism’s maiden Domestic Kerala Blog Express named ‘My First Trip’ in an endeavour to augment tourist footfall during the post-COVID period.
The bloggers, including a medical practitioner and an actor from Mumbai, are producing digital content about their first-hand experience of the land, its nature-blessed destinations, key attractions, cuisine, culture and the people. The images, videos and literature generated will be shared on social media platforms as #MyFirstTrip.
After the flag-off by the Principal Secretary, Tourism, Rani George in the presence of Tourism Director V.R. Krishna Teja from the Hotel Mascot premises here, the first of the five-day road trip of Indian online influencers aboard 10 vehicles was a whirlwind tour of the capital.
Many of the bloggers were first timers to the State and were excited to get a feel of the Kerala experience. Four of the influencers are from Mumbai, three from Delhi and one each from Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Ajmer.
Kritika Sharma, an actor from Mumbai, said that Keralites were “a wonderful people” and that she was looking forward to great memories of her maiden trip here.
Passion for travel
Deepanshu Sangwan from Haryana, who is in the State for the second time, said Kerala has instilled in him a passion for travel. Vishaka Dhanraj from Mumbai, who had explored the State on motorcycles, said she looked forward to the road trip, this time without a bike.
“These vloggers can also spread the word to the world that Kerala is a safe place to explore and that they can come down here for holidaying,’’ said Rani George.
The five itineraries have been prepared for the bloggers to get a full Kerala experience. The destinations include the Jatayu Earth Center at Chadayamangalam in Kollam district, Thumboormuzhi Garden near Chalakudy in Thrissur district, Vazhachal, Athirapally waterfalls and the Malakkapara hill station.
Village life
The travellers will also experience village life at Munroe Island in Kollam and nature walk along the bird sanctuary in Kumarakom and a houseboat cruise there, besides visits to the Muziris Heritage project sites and a town walk through coastal Alappuzha.
Other highlights are visits to the Punnamada lake, Mararikulam beach, boating in the Periyar lake, Tea Museum in Idukki, dams at Kundala and Mattupetti and water sports at Cherai to the northwest of Kochi.
Kerala Tourism is bearing the cost of the bloggers’ airfare and their accommodation for the online campaign that will conclude at the KTDC’s Bolgatty Palace in Kochi on March 29.
The six international editions of the Kerala Blog Express have so far created over 200 tourism ambassadors, who have documented their road journeys, experiences, and memories across conventional, digital and social media platforms in different languages.
