Category: Kerala

More than 200 people working in the tourism sector of Kerala Friday took out a protest rally on Friday at Kochi with the message to save the tourism and hospitality sector which has been badly hit by the COVID pandemic for the past one year. The rally named as ‘Save Indian Tourism’ was flagged off from Darbar Hall Ground, Ernakulam and concluded at Marine Drive Ground. Tour operators, travel agents, hoteliers, homestay owners, tour guides, houseboat operators and employees working in the industry actively took part in the rally. The protest event was organised by Indian Travel Fraternity. Cultural performances ... Read more

Kerala Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran launched the state’s first parasailing project at Hawa Beach in Kovalam on the 16th of January. “Kovalam is a famed international beach destination. The new facility will give a boost to water sport activities in Kovalam, besides complementing the efforts to develop the state as a major adventure tourism hub,” Surendran said after launching the activity. The Rs 2.5-crore project is run by Bond Adventures Pvt Ltd, which has been offering Bond safari Kovalam, scuba diving, snorkeling, and other waterbody-related adventure packages for many years. Winch parasail boats made in Goa will be used for ... Read more

‘Kerala Looks Ahead’, an international conference happening at the aegis of the Kerala State Planning Board, held from 01-03 FEB will discuss the opportunities in the tourism sector in a big way. The discussion on the tourism sector is scheduled on 02 FEB  from 02-04 PM. As per sources, the session on tourism will discuss the ‘Changing Trends in International Tourism’ and ways to take the Kerala Tourism flag ahead with the changing times. The panel will consist of experts from the policy side to the business and experts from the responsible and sustainable tourism side. Addressing the tourism conference ... Read more

Bollywood actress Sunny Leone is presently in Kerala to shoot for the upcoming season of the dating reality show Splitsvilla aired by MTV. The actress reached Thiruvananthapuram last Thursday night with her husband and kids, as part of a shoot. Sunny Leone first visited Kerala in 2017 and fans had thronged the streets of Kochi to catch a glimpse of the actress. Currently, she is undergoing quarantine for a week, before starting with her work. The actress is staying in a private resort at Poovar, south of Kovalam, and reportedly also has plans for a quiet vacation along with her ... Read more

On Tuesday the 19th of Jan, The Airports Authority of India has signed a concession agreement with Adani Group for three airports including Thiruvananthapuram International Airport. The agreement was signed even as a petition filed by the state government against the Centre’s decision to lease the airport to Adani Enterprises, which would be coming up for hearing at the Supreme Court in a couple of days. With the agreement in place, the company is expected to take over the airport within six months. For the first year after the takeover, it would be operated jointly by AAI and Adani Enterprises ... Read more

Kerala, globally renowned as the God’s Own Country, is celebrated for its eclectic and diverse cuisine experiences. Kerala Cuisine Contest 2020 (KCC2020), the International Online Cooking Competition powered by Kerala Tourism, is a unique campaign aimed at inviting travelers across the globe to experience Kerala’s yummy delicacies. Some of the iconic and traditional dishes of Kerala are featured on this page. All you need to do is to cook any of these dishes at home and share the video with us. Exciting prizes await you! Of course, it’s not about the taste or the aroma but the way you celebrate ... Read more

The Government of Kerala has finally decided to reopen spas and ayurvedic resorts in the state, which were closed for over nine months due to the novel coronavirus. The decision was announced by the state Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran. The spas, ayurvedic resorts, and other such facilities in Kerala, are now all set to welcome visitors again as the state government has issued orders for reopening them by adhering to safety norms. There has been a continuous demand from the industry players to open up the Ayurveda sector which has a significant role in Kerala’s incoming tourism. The spas and ... Read more

“Making better places for people to visit and better places for people to live in” has been the slogan of Kerala’s Responsible Tourism (RT) mission since its inception. Speaking about the revival of tourism in the state, K. Rupesh Kumar, RT Mission State coordinator said domestic tourism was on the revival path, as can be gauged from the arrival of guests from other States. “Knowing that responsible tourism is the way forward post-pandemic, they come in search of experiential tourism. Stakeholders have readied unique packages where care is taken to avoid crowding and adhere to hygiene,” He added “In keeping ... Read more

Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) Society has started preparations for a Virtual Kerala Travel Mart in March this year. The dates of the Virtual Travel Mart are expected to be announced soon by the Kerala Tourism department and KTM. The 5-day-long virtual exhibition will have B2B meetings and seminars on different topics. There will be seminars on all five days where experts from the industry will discuss and deliberate ways to revive the tourism sector in the state. The motive to promote tourism and its related activities in the State of Kerala led to the formation of the Kerala Travel Mart ... Read more

The surge in the inflow of domestic tourists to Kerala during the Christmas-New Year festive season brought some cheer to Kerala tourism stakeholders, even as quarantine norms are keeping away guests who generally stay put in the State for 2 weeks. The pandemic has not just hit the hospitality stakeholders but also the Ayurveda and wellness sectors, which combined together contribute a major chunk of income from tourism. Most guests hence prefer short vacations lasting less than a week. The Ayurveda Promotion Society (APMS) has recently submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister of Kerala, explaining the present situation of ... Read more

Prominent Tourism Trade body of Kerala, Confederation of Kerala Tourism Industry (CKTI) has requested the state government to allow free entry for domestic tourists to the state without mandatory quarantine rules upon arrival. CKTI  in a letter to the Chief Secretary of Kerala has complained that the current guidelines for visitors, which specifies mandatory quarantine for visitors, is not at all helping the revival process of tourism in the state, mainly the domestic market. CKTI  has recommended the government to review the current guidelines and have requested free entry for all tourists from other states. The Confederation has cited examples ... Read more

Leading Tourism Trade association, ATTOI has requested the Hon’ble Minister of State for Tourism, Government of Kerala, to make necessary amendments to the proposed Tourism Regulatory Act Kerala (TRAK), before implementation. Vinod C.S President of ATTOI felt that TRAK proposed to be introduced and implemented by the Kerala Tourism Department, would only serve to set back rather than promote the tourism industry in Kerala. However, the Act seeks to amend the Kerala Tourism Registration and Regulation Act to address the grievances of the Kerala Tourism and to re-empower the industry in case of any misconduct and to amend the Act ... Read more

The Central Government Counsel has sought more time to file a statement on the petition filed by Kerala Travel Mart Society and Kerala tour operators against the inaction of the Central government in announcing a financial stimulus package to the travel and tourism sector. The Kerala High Court after the first hearing of the petition on 21 DEC has observed the current plight of the stakeholders of the tourism industry and remarked that the sector requires urgent attention of the central government. The Counsel for the Central Government has said that since the matter involved policy decisions, more time is ... Read more

Questioning the inaction of the Central government in announcing a financial stimulus package to the tourism sector, the writ petition filed at Kerala High Court by the Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) Society and various Kerala based tour operators, will be heard next on 21 December. The case was initially scheduled for a hearing on 08 Dec, however, the Central government counsel has sought time to file a statement as it involves matters related to government policies. Accepting the request, the single bench Justice PV Asha has granted two weeks’ time for filing the affidavit. The Kerala Travel Mart Society ( ... Read more

With the temperatures falling to around five degree Celsius, another winter season is getting a warm welcome at Munnar. The lowest temperature of so far this season was recorded last Sunday when the mercury slipped down to 6 degree Celsius at Mattupetty, Nallathanni, and Chokkanad while the remote tea plantation areas of Gundumalai , Thenmala, Chenduvarai, and Lakshmi it went down  4 degree Celsius. The increase in the lowest temperature level on Tuesday was a result of the depression in the Bay of Bengal. For a week, the temperature has been slowly falling, as per the weather data available at ... Read more