Kerala Travel Ma2006 inaugurated

Kochi, Sep 27 (UNI) The biennial Kerala Tourism Mart (KTM), showcasing new tourism products including wedding and honeymoon holidays, farmstays, monsoon and medical tourism, was inaugurated here today.

India's premier buyer-seller meet on travel and tourism-related products, the KTM-2006 was inaugurated by Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan in the presence of Union Tourism Minister Ambika Soni, who was the chief guest.

Also present on the occasion were Kerala Tourism Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, Principal Secretary, Tourism, E K Bharat Bhushan, Director, Kerala Tourism, B Suman, Kerala Tourism Development Corporation Chairman Cherian Philip and President of KTM society Jose Dominic.

A total of 232 sellers are participating in KTM-2006, which will be held from September 28 to 30. There will be 166 stalls and 50 tables in addition to 16 housboats, which is about 50 per cent more than the previous mart, state tourism department officials said.

The tourism departments of Lakshadweep, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry 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 had been selected to attend the meet.

A 30-member delegation from Japan, a difficult market for India to tap, is attending the KTM for the first time. A large delegation is attending from South America also including 21 members from Argentina. Brazil, Iran and Italy are also being represented at the Mart for the first time.

Among the new tourism products to be showcased will be wedding and honeymoon holidays.

UNI ARC1928