The marketing campaigns of Kerala Tourism will give prominence to Wayanad, Tourism Minister P.A Mohamed Riyas has said.
Unveiling the salient features of the 12th edition of the Kerala Travel Mart (KTM-2024), scheduled in Kochi from September 26 to 29, at a press conference here on Wednesday, the Minister said though the landslides had affected only a particular area in Wayanad, it had impacted tourism in other parts of the district as well.
Emphasising the need for focussing on domestic and international markets, the Minister said the campaigns would seek to market the whole of Kerala, including Wayanad. The social media campaign with the catch word “Ente Keralam Ennum Sundaram” (My Kerala is ever beautiful) was part of this campaign.
Enthusiastic response
KTM-2024, organised by the Kerala Travel Mart Society, was all set to surpass past records going by the stakeholders’ response, including the turnout of domestic and international buyers, the Minister said. The domestic buyer registrations alone had crossed 2,035 for the first time in the history of Asia’s largest tourism event, from the hitherto-highest total of 1,305 in 2018. As for foreign buyers, the number was 808, from 76 countries, the Minister said.
KTM-2024 will be held at the Sagara-Samudrika Convention Centre in Willingdon Island. The event’s inaugural ceremony will be followed by three days of business sessions. The expo will be open to the public on the final day (September 29).
Of the foreign buyers, 67 are from the U.K., 60 from the Gulf and 55 from the U.S. While the buyers from Russia total 34, there are 245 buyers from the rest of Europe. There will be 41 buyers from Africa, while the others are from East Asia. As for domestic buyers, Maharashtra (578) tops the list, followed by Delhi (340) and Gujarat (263).
There will be 344 stalls in eight categories. The KTM Society is organising the event with support from various agencies and the Tourism department. The entire event is being considered as a “total digital revolution” as the organisers have come up with software that ensures the smooth conduct of B2B meetings. KTM 2024 will be organised strictly adhering to the green protocol.
Wedding destination
The 12th KTM will showcase Kerala as a wedding destination. Besides its emphasis on promoting Responsible Tourism, the event will strive to boost MICE (meetings, industries, conferences and exhibitions) tourism. In addition to hosting large events in metros such as Kochi, leisure destinations in Kerala are also equipped to host a variety of MICE events. The G20 working group’s meet at Kumarakom and Kovalam in March-April last year was an example of the State’s USP in this segment. Cruise tourism is another area where the 12th edition of the KTM is focussing on.
Published - September 04, 2024 07:57 pm IST
