Wedding, honeymoon holidays among new Kerala tourism products

Kochi, Sep 23 (UNI) The biennial Kerala Tourism Mart (KTM) will be held here from September 28 to 30, showcasing new tourism products including wedding and honeymoon holidays, farmstays, monsoon and medical tourism.

Addressing a press conference here today to announce the schedule of KTM 2006, Kerala Tourism Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the business-to-business meet would be inaugurated by State Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan in the presence of Union Tourism Minister Ambika Soni, who will be the chief guest.

A total of 232 sellers will be participating in KTM-2006, which was the only tourism event in the subcontinent that brought together the business fraternity and entrepreneurs behind the tourism products and services of Kerala.

There will be 166 stalls and 50 tables in addition to 16 houseboats, which was about 50 per cent more than the previous mart.

The tourism departments of Lakshadweep, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andhra Pradesh are also participating as sellers.

In all, 470 international buyers and 670 domestic buyers had registered and of these 300 international buyers from almost 50 countries and 350 from other Indian states have been selected to attend the meet.

Stating that Kerala was beginning to attract tourists from new markets, E K Bharat Bhushan, Principal Secretary, Tourism, said there would be 30 delegates from Japan, which has so far been a difficult market for India to tap.

A large delegation is attending the mart from South America, including 21 members from Argentina. Brazil, Iran and Italy are being represented at for the first time, he added.

Apart from large travel agents and air charters, the mart was beginning to attract buyers of niche tourism products such as farmstays.

Among the new tourism products to be showcased will be wedding and honeymoon holidays. Director, Tourism, B Suman said after Kerala starting advertising in some specialised wedding magazines, there had been a surge of honeymoon couples, especially from North India, to Kerala. Hill stations such as Munnar and Thekkady and the Kumarakom backwaters were the preferred destinations, he added.

''Honeymoon on house boats will be among the new products showcased at KTM-2006,'' he added.

UNI ARC JJ AK BD1515