Kerala Tourism has put forth a 12-point Action Plan to overcome the crisis in the sector due to the recent floods. The time-bound action plan is aimed at increasing tourist arrivals in the upcoming peak season through aggressive marketing campaign within the country and in source markets of Kerala abroad.
“Tourism programmes will not be cancelled in the name of cost control,” said Kadakmpally Surendran, Tourism Minister. He was talking to the media at Thiruvananthapuram.
Cancelling tourism programmes may give an impression that Kerala is still under the chaos of flood. The ministry is planning aggressive campaigns to alleviate this impression. The twelve-point action plan is part of the forthcoming programmes to reinstate tourism in the state.
Reconstruction of roads
Reconstruction of roads will be of utmost priority. All the national, state and internal roads, those connect the tourism destinations will be reinstated with immediate effect.
Tourism survey
The survey aims at assessing the readiness of the tourism spots for tourist’s arrival. It is expected that the survey report will be available by 15th September 2018. As per the information available, around 90 per cent of the tourism sports are ready to host tourists. 8 per cent will be ready within a month and the rest 2 per cent will be ready within 6 months.
Kerala Travel Mart (KTM)
This year’s Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) will be conducted between 27th and 30th September at Kochi. The event aims at enhancing confidence of the international tourists to visit Kerala and to reinstate Kerala’s position in the international tourism map.
London World Travel Mart
Kerala will participate in the world renowned travel mart in London. The event will be taking place from 5th to 7th November. Kerala tourism is considering a press meet in association with the Indian Embassy in London.
Kochi-Muziris Biennale
Kochi-Muziris Biennale, which is happening from December 2018 to March 2019, is another tourism event in the calendar. Authorities plan to showcase Kerala in the Biennale in a grand manner.
Digital Marketing
The ministry will strengthen the online campaigns to propagate that Kerala is back in the tourism map. There will be live broadcasts of the tourism events in the social media. The ministry is also planning to have branding of the tourism spots through print and multi-media platforms.
Participation of Media
Farm tours will be conducted during October-November months for the travelogue writers, media personnel and tour operators. There will be a press meet of the Kerala tourism ministry in Delhi by the second half of the month. Trade fairs and press conferences will be conducted in the major cities of India.
Kerala Boat League
The possibilities to conduct the Kerala Boat League, which was postponed due the floods, will be sought, once the CM comes back from treatment. Conducting the boat league will give the impression that the rivers of Kerala are safe now.
Social commitments
The tourism ministry is aiming at ensuring people participation on all the tourism programmes with the help of Responsible Tourism Mission.
