Kerala Travel Mart Redefines Indian Tourism with All-Time Buyer Registration Record
Kerala, India—Don’t be afraid to roam out of bounds!
The 13th edition of Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) from September 24 to 27 will be inaugurated by Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan. The shared vision for Kerala Tourism, India’s largest tourism and hospitality sector business event, includes premium regional pre-tours for members of the international media starting on September 19.
Kerala tourism, it was noted at the organization’s recent Press Meet, competes with other countries, not with other Indian states. KTM will also highlight the need to rebrand Kerala’s Ayurveda and wellness tourism offerings to celebrate their relevance and appeal. Kerala’s off-season monsoon tourism experiences, along with its enduring rich cultural heritage, exotic performing arts and world-class cuisine, will also be showcased.
Anticipation for KTM includes an all-time record in buyer registrations. Three months prior to the event there were 2,360 buyer registrations (including 610 international buyers and 1,750 domestic buyers). Media participation for the event has also increased, with 117 media registrations received so far, comprising 60 international and 57 domestic media publications.
The three-day event will encompass business meets, policy-making conventions, and focussed seminars led by national and international industry experts. The conference provides continuous cultural entertainment as well as targeted global avenues for tour operators and tourism business enterprises based in India. This will be the author’s second KTM.
More about Kerala, India
Kerala, one of India’s 29 states, is in its deep south and has multiple personalities that ascend from a bayou-style “Backwaterworld” to cool, mountainous highlands. This fish-curry-flavored odyssey starts in the tropical freshwater lowlands where far-out houseboats reign. The fleet on Vembanad Lake are mostly produce-transport vessels restyled into one- to five-bedroom floating manors that can deliver you to the affordable yet royal-caliber Kumarakom Lake Resort’s 59 antique villas on 12 acres, including 26 lush pads connected by a meandering 700-foot wraparound pool. After crossing another dozen canals and ponds, you climb through Kerala’s fertile midlands and rubber tree plantations until segueing into hairpin-turn-by-turns into the uplands where the compelling scenery includes waterfalls and gives way to mountainsides growing tea, spices, and other cash crops. Tea country is dominated by endless fluorescent-green tea shrubs that are pruned at easy-harvest height; otherwise they grow to 25 feet. Up here, Thekkady’s Spice Village has 52 nicely spaced villas spread across 12 acres, each enjoying full-wraparound porches. Ultra-green is no joke at this earthy resort, which features organic pest control, no TVs or AC (eco-thatched roofs cool the villas), and onsite organic farm menu items. The cozy campus doubles as an arboretum with more than 100 shady tree species. Add live tabla (mini bongo) and sitar (Beatles on acid) dinnertime shows, and the peace is unforced. Back at sea level, Cochin, Kerala’s coastal metropolis on the Arabian Sea, is tame as far as Indian cities go, and roaming from there to greener pastures is easy. As an Indian state, Kerala ranks at the top of three key categories: life expectancy (75 years), literacy (95 percent), and women’s empowerment. How? Go find out. Ps, Kerala is way more than just yoga and Ayurveda… and haircuts cost $3.
For more information about scaling up the global appeal of Kerala Tourism visit Kerala Travel Mart.
