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The fourth edition of Splash - the Wayanad monsoon carnival - was held at Kalpetta, the headquarters of Wayanad. The carnival succeeded in bringing the attention of global tourism market including travel operators, tourism entrepreneurs and travel writers to the monsoon tourism potential of Wayanad. Organized by Kerala Tourism and Wayanad Tourism Organisation, the carnival was first held in 2009 and soon became a serious get-together of travelers, tourism writers and entrepreneurs, who share their joy and concern over nature and tourism.
The B2B meet, which was the focus of this year's event, was inaugurated by Mr. Oommen Chandy, Chief Minister of Kerala. In his inaugural speech the Chief Minister said that the government has been taking steps to develop tourism destinations in Kerala to be on a par with international ones. As many as 500 travel operators from different parts of the country took part in the business meet making it a successful venture.
The highlight of the carnival was a pre-monsoon carnival; a seven-day exhibition-cum-cultural extravaganza that started on 9th July 2012. The carnival grabbed wide media attention with a variety of exciting programmes like mud football, competition in indigenous farming like planting of paddy and fun-filled events like climbing the slippery tree and catching crabs.
The seven-day monsoon carnival concluded on 15th July 2012. Theyyattakavu, a fusion of the traditional art forms of the State was a major attraction of the concluding day. Delivering the presidential address at the valedictory function Mr. A. P. Anilkumar, Minister for Tourism, Kerala, said that Wayanad district had recorded a considerable growth in tourism industry within a short span of time.