Kerala turned a new milestone in its tourism steeped in resilience, as Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) 2024 concluded on Sunday with a stronger projection of its variety destinations celebrated for their all-weather charm.
While wedding and cruise tourism earned focus at the four-day event organized by KTM Society, more than 2,800 buyers and stalls totaling 347 made the 12th edition busiest in the history of the biennial event. By making the proceedings paperless through a software app, authorities stuck to the green protocol that enhanced the international image of the state on the tourism map. The final day witnessed huge rush, as general public visited the venue at Sagara-Samudrika Convention Centre at Willingdon Island in huge numbers from noon.
KTM Society, which is now into its silver-jubilee year, has gifted meaningful contributions to public-private partnership in tourism, which is the state’s most dynamic economic segment, Kerala Tourism Director Sikha Surendran said. As the premier body of the state’s travel and hospitality industry, the Society has played a “vital role in this successful collaboration”, she noted at the valedictory ceremony presided over by KTM President Jose Pradeep with India Tourism Regional Director D Venkatesan as the chief guest.
By presenting before a global audience how the state lives up to its reputation as God’s Own Country, KTM hosted an array of business sessions and panel discussions besides a mega exhibition, Ms Surendran pointed out. “These will impart scale and speed to Kerala Tourism, known for its resilience and innovativeness to generate novel ideas and models,” she added, highlighting the best use of new technology and participation of local communities in Responsible Tourism activities.
“We are all very happy that our RT initiative has come out in flying colours this World Tourism Day, clinching the National awards for the Best RT Tourism Village and the Best Agri-Tourism Village for Kadalundi (near Kozhikode) and Kumarakom (Kottayam) respectively,” the director said. “Equally significantly, this grand event was organized by completely adhering to the green protocol. It sends out a very positive message to the entire spectrum of our stakeholders.”
Venkatesan, while hailing KTM as the “Kumbh Mela of the country’s tourism”, said the mart has found prospective emulators from other states. Hailing the Kerala government’s efforts to bring the state’s travel and hospitality industry back to normal after the Wayanad tragedy of end-July, he extended India Tourism’s “full support” to the mission.
KTM’s Pradeep said the four-day mart gifted “invaluable insights and networking connections” to the participants. “Our emphasis on RT is a model for the rest of the world,” he added.
Of the 2,839 buyers, 802 were from foreign countries, including upscale markets such as the UK, US and other European countries. “There were quite a good number of buyers from Africa, East Asia and other potential regions, reflecting on the increasing preference of Kerala as an attractive destination for travellers from across geographies,” the Director revealed, adding that Maharashtra topped in the domestic segment with 578 buyers, followed by Delhi (340) and Gujarat (263).
Event also created a record in its history with the Asia’s biggest tourism sector event registering more than 75,000 business-to-business (B2B) meetings during its three days of proceedings. The biennial event had clocked around 55,000 B2B meetings in 2022
The valedictory ceremony was also addressed by KTM Vice President Harikumar K.C., besides the society’s former and current top functionaries such as Baby Mathew, E.M. Najeeb, Jibran Asif, Jose Dominic, Jobin Joseph, Riaz Ahmed and Abraham George.
The mart has always given a boost to travel and tourism in the state in times of crises, organisers said, recalling the monsoon floods of 2018 and the pandemic that set in one-and-a-half years later, besides the Wayanad landslides during the middle of this monsoon.
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