Steena Joy – Kasargod
This year ten countries will be participating in the Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) for the first time namely China, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Georgia, Chile, Greece, Iran and Botswana. KTM will be held from September 27-30 in Kochi. Speaking exclusively to Express TravelWorld, Abraham George, president, KTM informed, “This edition of KTM will host 57 countries with 10 new entrants as also 20 Indian states scheduled to explore tourism opportunities in Kerala. 560 international and 1304 domestic buyers have registered. The ninth edition will also witness increased participation from 10 conventional markets including US, Canada and Australia.”
He added, “KTM has always placed as much emphasis on the identification of quality buyers from new countries as on retaining participation levels from conventional markets. With 10 new nations confirmed to participate this year, our efforts have borne fruit. Moreover, the increase in registrations from the traditional markets – one of our stated goals going into this edition – is further proof of KTM’s growing profile.”
The focus of KTM 2016 will be the themes of ‘Responsible Tourism’ and the ‘Muziris and Spice Route’. George stated, “ In order to promote the ‘Muziris and Spice Route’ theme, UNESCO together with Kerala Tourism and the Union Tourism ministry will host a ‘Spice Route Culinary Festival’ from September 23-26, in which leading chefs from the 31 member countries on the historic Spice Route will participate. The event is organised as a prelude to the mart. Moreover, we will set up pavilions at the venue showcasing the themes.”
The mart is designed to facilitate B2B networking and interactions among travel industry professionals and entrepreneurs from Kerala and across the world, thereby providing a vehicle for significant business linkages between the state’s tourism fraternity and the international travel market.
“As we have extended the prefixed appointment system for domestic buyers, the B2B sessions will be more effective for both buyers and sellers. KTM will witness 25,000 business meetings apart from other non-scheduled meetings,” the president confirmed.
Commenting on his expectations from the new leadership at Kerala Tourism, George said, “The tourism industry has great hopes on the new government. They have already framed a clear tourism policy on a long term plan with a series of interactions with the trade and through proper study.” As for Brexit, he asserted, “Since we look forward to everything with a positive note, we hope that Brexit can influence and help tourism in state.”