Kerala Travel Mart-2006 concludes, generates good response

Kochi, Sep 30 (UNI) The three-day 'Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) 2006' concluded here today with the state government and travel industry committing themselves to keep up the momentum which has seen Kerala tourism registering the highest growth rate in the world.

The valedictory function was attended by Kerala Tourism Director B Suman, KTM Society President Jose Dominic, KTM CEO Mathew Philip, Vice-President E M Najeeb and Organising Committee Chairman Sam T Samuel.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Suman said the state was expecting another good tourist season this year.

In first half of this fiscal, the number of foreign tourists to the state was up by 34 per cent and domestic tourists by seven per cent.

Mr Dominic said the number of participants had gone up this year and the KTM Society's decision to screen the buyers had paid off, as it had resulted in genuine buyers attending the Mart.

While the first two days were limited to business players, the Mart was thrown open to the general public today.

A cross-section of new tourism products, including wedding and honeymoon holidays, farmstays, homestays, monsoon and medical tourism and adventure tours were showcased at the Mart.

At the same time, the traditional tourist attractions- ayurveda, beaches and backwaters also drew a number of queries, he added.

Mr Dominic said, about 232 sellers participated in KTM-2006. There were 166 stalls and 50 tables in addition to 16 houseboats, which was about 50 per cent more than the previous Mart.

A substantial number of the newcomers were homestay owners.

In all, 1,200 buyers including nearly 500 from abroad attended the meet.

A 30-member delegation from Japan and delegations from Latin America, Iran and Italy also attended the Mart for the first time and evinced interest in ayurveda and backwater holidays.

A majority of sellers expressed satisfaction at the end of the meet and said they had received several serious inquiries.

However, some stall owners expressed dissatisfaction at the arrangement of the stalls and lack of proper signages to guide the buyers.

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