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India’s biggest B2B travel meet, Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) held every two years, chose to open its eighth edition at the newly built Samudrika, Cochin Port Trust’s cruise facilitation centre at Willingdon Island, Kochi for the first time. The mart was inaugurated by Oommen Chandy, chief minister of Kerala at Le Meridien Convention Centre, Kochi. The three-day long mart hosted a total of 861 domestic buyers and 241 international buyers. Though the mart was being held amidst the furore caused by the new liquor policy in the state (which will revoke liquor licences of hotels below the five-star category), Abraham George, president KTM Society was happy with the figures.”There were an expected 30,000 buyer seller appointments lined up for the mart, but the figures crossed forty thousand business sittings between the potential buyers and sellers,” he said.
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| Oommen Chandy, chief minister of Kerala |
KTM witnessed serious concerns on the new excise policy announced by the government and urged the policy makers to adopt positive steps in evolving a tourism friendly liquor policy in the state. The tourism fraternity expressed sincere hope at the assurance given by the chief minister during his inaugural speech at the mart, considering the concerns of the tourism industry regarding the excise policy.
Sellers at KTM included adventure tour operators, Ayurveda centres, Ayurveda resorts, hotels, homestays, amusement parks, convention centres, hotel management consultants, houseboats, resorts, speciality hospitals, museums, travel and tour operators, etc. While UK, Germany, France, Malaysia, and USA topped the buyer arrival countries, newer markets like Singapore, Poland, Romania, Czech Republic, and Brazil had their buyers for the meet. All together, 45 countries participated at KTM this year.
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| A P Anilkumar, tourism minister, Kerala | P I Sheik Pareeth, director, Kerala Tourism |
Village tourism was positioned as a prime focus product at KTM this time and evoked huge response from the buyers. The venue incorporated a village scene with local artists and artisans demonstrating activities like weaving, archery, pottery, etc. The idea was to create the feel of a real village and share lifestyle experiences. KTM 2014 also showcased Kerala as a wedding destination and an ideal venue for international MICE.
Muziris project
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Anupama T V
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Kerala Tourism’s Muziris Heritage Project was the focus of a seminar on the first day of KTM 2014. Anupama T V, additional director, Kerala Tourism gave a presentation on the project and updated that four more museums, the hop on hop off boat service and the Kodungallur Visitor Centre are ready to open to the public. Also on the panel was Benny Kuriakose, the chief consultant for the project who said, “There are more than 200 historic sites in this area. 19 government agencies are working on the Muziris project which will have 14 tourism circuits. The project already has opened four museums. Four more museums that is the Sahodaran Ayyappan Museum, Kesari Balakrishna Museum, Abdul Rahman Museum and the Kerala Isalmic History Museum are ready to open to the public. Apart from these, the Visitor Centre at Kodungallur is also ready. Near Kodungallur, a convention centre with capacity to seat 1500 people is also ready. The air-conditioned hop on hop off boat service with a capacity of 24 pax per trip will start from this Visitor Centre and will cover 25 km and touch the four museums and excavation site.”
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| Abraham George, president, KTM Society |
The Kottapuram fort site is almost ready too. Eight boat jetties (with food outlets) have been completed. More than Rs three crore have been spent on the signages itself to help people find their way around easily. “The project has been conceived with the involvement of local panchayats and communities, without disturbing the local ethos and balance. There will be performance centres where local crafts and artisans will get a platform to showcase their talents,” added Kuriakose.
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Suman Billa
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Suman Billa, secretary tourism, Government of Kerala added that the tourism department was awaiting the availability of the Prime Minister for inaugurating the same. There are also plans to start a hop on hop off bus service in Kochi. Kuriakose said, “The state cannot survive only on the backwaters or the beaches; we have to have a new portfolio and Muziris will spearhead this.” Jose Dominic, CMD, CGH Earth and chairman, KTM 2014 agreed, “Muziris will do for Kerala what Angkor Vat did for Cambodia. It will be the complete game changer for Kerala Tourism.” Another deliberation on the opening day centred on the way ahead for Kerala tourism. E M Najeeb, chairman, ATE Group, described how the state government has always supported the private sector in tourism, giving the boost needed to establish Kerala as an independent tourism product that employs 14 lakh persons directly and 10 lakh people indirectly. The panel listed cruise tourism as a potential revenue earner and suggested setting up excellent cruise infrastructure to take this forward. The discussion also suggested that Kerala should focus on eco tourism and show the world the local traditions. It was imperative to adopt an adventure tourism policy and address the quality of guided tours as language speaking for guides still remains a challenge. Environmental concerns were also discussed. The panel felt that places like Munnar should not go the Manali (Himachal Pradesh) way due to over commercialisation.
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Ayurveda’s ills
The second day of the mart witnessed a panel discussion on Ayurveda as a product in the changing market. Speaking at the panel discussion, Dr G G Gangadharan, medical director, Institute of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine (I-AIM) Healthcare Centre and chairman, National Steering Committee for Global Ayurveda Festival, (a biennial get together of the Ayurveda fraternity not only from Kerala but from the world over), said, “The global wellness market is worth some five trillion US$. India earns Rs 9,000 crore from Ayurveda services alone and we have not even seen the tip of the iceberg as far as this science is concerned. But this success story is in danger. Now even other countries like Switzerland, Mauritius, and our neighbours Nepal and Sri Lanka are offering Ayurveda. We have to make our visa procedures simpler and we have to document and up our research on this science. As Ayurveda is not officially recognised by many countries, it is difficult for patients travelling to India for Ayurveda to get medical insurance.” The panel also stressed that there was no research infrastructure or protocols for this segment. Students studying Ayurveda have no clinical experience.
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Dr Gangadharan added, “What is even more alarming is on the production front. On the one hand, mass production of Ayurvedic medicines is diluting the science. On the other, a shortage of herbs required to produce these medicines is looming. When the demand for Ayurveda increases, how will the treatment centres get the plants and herbs needed for production? ” He felt that a strong backward integration model needs to be adopted. “We have urged the government to implement a nursery technology programme to step up cultivation. Here again, some plants need to be cultivated ‘in situ’ in their original environment or they will lose their medicinal value. Some herbs like gugulu which is the most used in Ayurveda are difficult to cultivate. So the government has to subsidise farmers and have a buyback arrangement.”
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Baby Mathew, chairman and managing director, Somatheeram Ayurveda Group, opined, “Because of the good climate and soil, and also the availability of herbs and plants, Kerala is the ideal place for practising Ayurveda. It is good that the government has implemented GMP in Ayurvedic medicine manufacturing. But sadly, there are no high standard research facilities for Ayurveda like the IITs for technology or IHMs for hotel management. The government has finally given approval for setting up an Ayurveda University, so at least the tourism department and the health department are on the right track. But, we also need to give our Ayurveda treatment centres the ambience of a resort unlike our old Ayurvedic clinics that had a hospital like atmosphere. This will help in giving a genuineness to the treatment.” Apart from the suggestion to train local youth in Ayurveda to cater to the growing demand for quality therapists, the panel also voiced concern over the problem of security especially as a panelist pointed out that nearly 80 per cent of wellness tourists are single female travellers.
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| Dr Rajashree Ajith |
The seminar on Responsible Tourism (RT) was moderated by Dr Rajashree Ajith, director, KITTS. Dominic emphasised, “Kerala has shown how the ordinary became the extraordinary. It is not the Las Vegas kind of development we need. Our target customer is the Alert Independent Traveller (AIT). RT is not a destination, it is an attitude. In RT, the customer is not the king! The king is the land and the environment, followed by the community. Kerala is not a five star model; it is local. We have to retain this model.”
The seminar stressed the need for promoting responsible tourism models with assured participation from the local community. Billa outlined the need for drafting a road map for empowering the relevant community towards their social and economic fulfillment. Anish Kumar, secretary, KTM Society. summed up, “What makes Kerala different is not just the backwaters, houseboats, etc, but it is the people. Money from tourism should reach the local community.”
