Buoyed by the ‘successful’ debut season of the Champions Boat League (CBL), Kerala Tourism is planning to organise partnership meets and take part in trade fairs in Tier I and II cities from January to increase domestic footfalls.
As part of the Phase I marketing strategy worked out in 2019-20 to increase domestic footfalls, Kerala Tourism had received good response from the travel trade in 10 Tier I and II cities.
“Fifty travel agents in the State joined hands with Kerala Tourism to promote the destination in Tier I cities and 40 in Tier II cities through Partnership Meets,” a senior tourism official told The Hindu.
The four-month second leg of the domestic campaign will begin with participation in the South Asian Travel and Tourism Exhibition (SATTE) in Delhi from January 8 to 10.
Travel fair
This will be followed by participation in India International Travel and Tourism Exhibition (IITT) in Mumbai from January 15, Hyderabad (January 21) and Visakhapatnam (January 23).
The State and tourism products will be showcased in the Travel and Tourism Fair (TTF) in Chennai from January 24 to 26, Kolkata (January 28) and Guwahati on January 30.
Kerala will also take part in TTF&OTM (Outbound Travel Mart) in Mumbai from February 3 to 5, Amritsar (February11), Chandigarh (February13), Delhi (February 18), Jaipur (February 20), Bengaluru (March3) and Chennai (March 5) and in GITB to be held in Jaipur from April 19 to 21.
Accredited tour operators, serviced villas/home stays/ayurveda centres, approved/classified by Kerala Tourism, house boat service providers with valid license from the authority concerned, and hotels/resorts and tour operators accredited by India Tourism having office here will join hands for promoting the destination.
Increase in arrivals
According to Tourism Director P. Bala Kiran, tourist arrivals in the State shot up by an impressive 6.82% in the first quarter of 2019 as compared to the previous year and the growth rate was 14.8% in the second quarter of 2019.
“We are expecting an appreciable growth in the third quarter due to the proactive works for the buzz created to revive the industry and a good peak season,” he said.
