Tag: Kerala Tourism

The four-day Wayanad Splash 2019, organised in association with the State Tourism Department and Wayanad Tourism Organisation to showcase the numerous tourist attractions and activities in Wayanad, has concluded. Arab bloggers at Contour Island Resort & Spa, Wayanad As many as 396 stakeholders, including 116 sellers and 280 buyers including international tour operators took part in the business meet. Close to 110 stakeholders from Malabar region and neighbouring districts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu put up stalls at the venue to showcase their properties. Inaugurating the concluding ceremony of the B2B meet, Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran said the government has earmarked ... Read more

Kerala’s heritage-preserving Responsible Tourism initiative has drawn up an ambitious project to tap the culinary skills of women at the grass roots, especially housewives, to dish out the distinct flavours of the state’s ethnic cuisine to visitors. The scheme, ‘Experience Ethnic Cuisine”, aims at gainfully engaging up to 50,000 home-makers across the state in three years, by roping in them as key stakeholders in the hospitality sector. The project, which can set a major trend in the state’s tourism sector and empower women substantially, was announced by Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran in the State Legislative Assembly recently. The registration to ... Read more

Kerala Tourism, in association with Muddy Boots and Mercury Himalayan Explorations (MHE), is planning to launch a host of adventure tourism courses on KITTS campuses in Thiruvananthapuram, Malayattoor, Thalassery and Thrissur. There will be four certificate courses and one diploma course, which is aimed to create a trained workforce to guide tourists interested in adventure tourism so that risks are minimised and responsible tourism is undertaken. The technical partner, Muddy Boots will devise the curriculum and facilitate the faculty while the industry partner, MHE will take care of internship for the students and their placement. The courses include an introduction ... Read more

Noting that homestays are a vital component of tourism in future, Kerala Tourism Director P Bala Kiran IAS said homestays will be given Responsible Tourism Mission (RT) partner approval, provided they strictly follow the vision and norms of the heritage-oriented hospitality initiative. “The classification will be in platinum, gold and silver categories,” Bala Kiran said while inaugurating a one-day workshop cum orientation programme for homestays and service villas of Kerala here on Tuesday. The event was organized by Trivandrum chapter of Kerala Hats, a consortium of homestay promoters, in association with the Kerala Tourism Department in Thiruvananthapuram. Bala Kiran said ... Read more

TikTok, the world’s leading platform for short-form mobile videos, announced the India edition of its global in-app travel campaign, #TikTokTravel. The local in-app campaign #YehMeraIndia showcases India as a key global travel destination by inviting TikTok users to share their travel moments with the world. As part of the campaign, Kerala Tourism (@KeralaTourism) launched their official account on TikTok and will be leveraging the platform to promote the state’s tourism. “We are thrilled to be one of the first state tourism boards to come onto TikTok and be part of #TikTokTravel and #YehMeraIndia. We truly believe that TikTok as a ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: CNN In an effort to ease travel and increase the number of Saudi visitors to the country, the Indian government has made e-visas available for Saudi nationals. All applicants will need are valid identification documents, like passports, and a debit or credit card with which to pay the e-visa fee. E-visa application confirmations will be filed within a 24-hour period of submission, approval granted within 72 hours, and the visa will be valid for one year. The e-visa will then be sent via email, and can be used digitally or printed. The e-visas are issued for a period ... Read more

India and the Maldives have decided to launch a passenger-cum-cargo ferry service between Kerala’s Kochi and Male, the capital of Maldives, via Kulhudhuffushi atoll in a bid to strengthen connectivity between the two countries and boost tourism. On his recent state-visit visit to Maldives, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih have asked officials to expeditiously work towards starting the regular passenger-cum-cargo ferry service between the two countries. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two sides for the establishment of passenger and cargo services by sea. The distance between Kochi and Male is about 700 ... Read more

In spite of the terrible weather and the other adverse conditions, the tourist season in Kerala was well on course beating the last year statistics and according to the Ministry of Tourism, the state’s tourism has recorded some good growth from unexpected markets in 2018. The bad weather, religious and political protests, increased competition from Sri Lanka and the devastating floods don’t seem to have affected the tourism industry through out Kerala as more and more visitors have arrived in the state from new markets. “There was rampant apprehension that Kerala’s tourism will take a long time to recover. But ... Read more

Bureau of Indian Standards, Government of India is conducting a one day workshop on Adventure Tourism in association with Kerala Tourism, Kerala Adventure Tourism Promotion Society (KATPS) and with the support of Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) and Tourism India Magazine at UDS Kovalam on May 16, 2019, from 10 am to 1.30 pm. The event will be followed by an interaction between Kerala Adventure Tourism Stakeholders and Tour Operators in Kerala. Kadakampally Surendran, Minister for Tourism, Govt. of Kerala, will inaugurate the workshop. The technical session will be moderate by Dr. Rajashree AJith, Director, KITTS from 11 ... Read more

Kerala tourism was experiencing a very dull season last year due to the Nipah outbreak and the devastating floods. At the same time, the neighbouring island nation, Sri Lanka has been aggressively marketing its scenic locations and pristine beaches, destinations which Kerala too offers, in the past half a decade or so attracting a good number of visitors there. The cost of visiting Sri Lanka and Kerala is almost the same for a traveller, which also made Sri Lanka a preferred destination for travellers. But, with the recent Easter bombings in the island nation on April 21, that killed 290 ... Read more

A veteran in the travel and tourism industry in India, E M Najeeb, Senior VP of IATO and President of the Confederation of Kerala Tourism Industry, has seen many changes including the rise and fall of tourism and the golden rise of the God’s own Country. The tourism industry veteran brings with him a wealth of experience. Tourism News Live spoke to EM Najeeb about his experiences and his thoughts on tourism and the outlook over the next few years. Tourism brings people together from all over the world. How do you see the role of tourism in society? The world ... Read more

“Kerala is absolutely amazing. It’s a land where nature, culture and people harmonise so well to make the visiting an unforgettable experience. It is simply unmissable.” This was the general refrain of the members of a group of 26 bloggers from 21 countries who just concluded a fortnight-long tour of the state. Facilitated by Kerala’s Tourism Department in partnership with the trade, the sixth edition of the Kerala Blog Express (KBE), which set out from Kochi on March 21, wound up at the internationally renowned Kovalam beach resort, in Thiruvananthapuram, on Friday evening. As top travel bloggers and social influencers ... Read more

Come April and the tiny hamlet of Kadammanitta in the Pathanamthitta district of Kerala will witness the world’s most majestic display of the ritual art form of Patayani- the Kadammanitta Patayani. The event will start on April 15, during the auspicious occasion of the harvesting festival, Vishu. Proceedings begin with the lighting of fire and the beating of the ‘thappu’ (Patayani percussion instrument) to appease Goddess Bhadrakaali. The fire for this ritual is brought from the sacred lamp inside the temple. The following days devotees can witness the procession of various Padayani Kolams. It starts with the kolam of Ganapathi. The other kolams in ... Read more

Kerala Tourism has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a consortium represented by E Factor Entertainment and The Social Street (AMP Communications) for the development, branding, promotions, marketing and revenue generation activities of the Champions’ Boat League (CBL). The consortium will be responsible for the developmental exercise of the league for the next five years starting 2019 until 2023. The Champions’ Boat League is slated to start on August 10, 2019 with the prestigious Nehru Trophy Boat Race in Alappuzha and end with the President’s Trophy Boat Race in Kollam on the State Formation Day (November 1). There will ... Read more

Nepal has agreed to align with Kerala on tourism and ayurveda. The decision was taken during the visit of the former prime minister of Nepal and senior leader of Communist Party of Nepal (UML) Jhala Nath Khanal. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has proposed Khanal for cooperation with Kerala in tourism and ayurveda sectors when he visited the CM at his office in Thiruvananthapuram. The proposal was made by the chief minister when a delegation led by Khanal called on him at the official residence, Cliff House on March 27, 2019. Khanal briefed the chief minister about the political situation ... Read more