Union Tourism Minister of State (IC) Mr. K J Alphons along with Mr. M Vijayakumar, Chairman, KTDC inaugurates the exhibition stalls and pavilions at the tenth edition of Kerala Travel Mart (KTM). Mrs Rani George, Tourism Secretary, Kerala (second from right); Mr. Baby Mathew, President, KTM Society (third from left); and Mr. Abraham George, former President, KTM, (second from left) are also seen
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[dropcap]K[/dropcap]ochi: The tourism industry in Kerala has showed its strong character post the devastating floods and the way it made the revival is astounding, Union Tourism Minister of State (IC) Mr. K J Alphons said here.
Union Tourism Minister of State (IC) Mr. K J Alphons inaugurates the pavilion of Responsible Tourism put up by the Department of Tourism, Kerala by lighting the lamp at the tenth edition of Kerala Travel Mart (KTM). Mr. M Vijayakumar, Chairman, KTDC (third from left); Mrs Rani George, Tourism Secretary, Kerala (fourth from right); Mr. Baby Mathew, President, KTM Society (extreme left); and Mr. Abraham George, former President, KTM, (third from right) are also seen.
“I give emphasis on Kerala Tourism’s ability to recoup after a severe natural calamity as an epitome wherever I go. We bounced back defeating all the never-seen-before challenges. It gives the positive sign that tourism has regained its vigour post the flood,” he remarked.
Mr. Alphons made this observation while inaugurating the exhibition stalls and pavilions at the tenth edition of Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) at Samudrika and Sagara Convention Centre, Willingdon Island.
On the occasion, he also inaugurated the pavilion of Responsible Tourism put up by Kerala’s Department of Tourism. Later, he made a round of the various exhibition stalls and pavilions.
Union Tourism Minister of State (IC) Mr. K J Alphons makes a round of the various exhibition stalls and pavilions at the tenth edition of Kerala Travel Mart (KTM). Mr. M Vijayakumar, Chairman, KTDC (second from left); Mr. Baby Mathew, President, KTM Society (extreme left); and Mr. E M Najeeb, Senior Vice President, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) (extreme right) are also seen.
Mrs Rani George, Tourism Secretary, Kerala; Mr. Baby Mathew, President, KTM Society; Mr. M Vijayakumar, Chairman, KTDC; Mr. E M Najeeb, Senior Vice President, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO); and Mr. Abraham George, former President, KTM, accompanied the minister.
The four-day KTM, which was inaugurated by Chief Minister Shri Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday (Sept 27), has its focus on the Malabar as a core theme. The KTM-2018 features 1,600 buyers, one-third of them from 66 foreign countries. Public-private participation is a key feature of the conclave with participation of delegates from the fields of travel and tour, hotels and resorts, home-stay, houseboat, Ayurveda centres and cultural organisations.
The mart provides a platform to world-class buyers and sellers a platform to interact and promote businesses, giving a fresh impetus to Kerala’s tourism industry that generates an annual turnover of Rs 34,000 crore and provides employment to 25 lakh people.
The KTM, with 325 sellers in 400 stalls, has 1,635 buyers who are top functionaries of firms in tourism industry within the country and outside. The number of foreign buyers is 545, and they come from 66 countries, including USA, Russia, Japan, China, Australia and Britain. As for the domestic buyers, their number stands at 1,090.
Buyers and sellers meet will go on all the three days. On Sunday, the public will be permitted free entry, while the KTM business meets at the Willingdon Island are only for delegates who need to register in advance.
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