KERALA TOURISM NEWSLETTER
Travel agents to get trained as 'Kerala Specialists'
Kerala Tourism became the first Indian tourism board to launch an online training programme for the travel trade. The 'Kerala Specialist' programme was officially launched by the Union Minister for Tourism Kumari Selja at the Incredible India Press Conference, at the World Travel Mart 2009 in London recently.
Agents who participate in the 'Kerala Specialist' online training programme and successfully complete the training programme will be awarded an official certificate by Kerala Tourism, and referred to as 'Kerala Specialist'.
Secretary for Kerala Tourism, Dr. Venu V., said that the 'Kerala Specialist' programme was designed to tap the market further by reaching out to over 40,000 travel agents throughout the U.K. He explained that the purpose of a self-training programme in the U.K. is to help travel agents and tour operators in the U.K. to get acquainted with Kerala's tourism products and use this added knowledge to increase U.K. sales to Kerala. Dr. Venu added that the Kerala Specialist programme would be extended to other markets.
The Kerala Specialist programme is developed in conjunction with Travel Uni, the leading online training provider in the UK, specialising in providing destination, cruise, resort and product based training to the travel trade. The programme contains six modules on Kerala including in-depth knowledge about the history, culture and geography of Kerala; its tourist attractions; tips and hints on how to sell Kerala; its uniqueness and how to get to Kerala.
Amongst other things participation in the 'Kerala Specialist' programme provides a number of advantages to UK sellers. And they are: increased knowledge of the regions in Kerala, including each region's unique selling points and how to build them into an itinerary; improved capability to plan, promote and sell quality Kerala holidays; a Kerala Specialist certificate for display, so that customers can see at a glance that the agent is a specialist on Kerala holidays and knowledge and confidence to up-sell Kerala.
