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Chief Minister of Kerala Mr. Oommen Chandy urged young entrepreneurs with small start-up businesses in the travel and tourism sector to take advantage of digital technology, which is opening up vast global markets that were once unreachable through traditional marketing tools.
Inaugurating the country’s first International Conference on Travel Technology, ICTT India, the CM said India, which is ranked 41st in terms of international tourist arrivals has a long way to realise its full potential, given its natural and cultural attractions. However, a key step forward is the arrival of a large number of educated youth and qualified professionals in the industry, which is driving innovation and growth, he said. And technology is fuelling this surge of entrepreneurship by providing platforms to market their products and services, he added.
“Another significant aspect is that it has enabled micro-enterprises and individuals to reach out to their markets across the seas. A homestay in Kerala can now market itself just like one of the big hotel chains, to its target audience in London or Sydney. In Kerala, we have a lot of entrepreneurs in the tourism sector and technology will give them wings,” said the Chief Minister.
Dr. Shashi Tharoor, onHoUnion Minister of State for Human Resource Development in his keynote address said that one of the most important uses of the web for tourism business was review and response to customer feedback, which was increasingly influencing travellers’ decisions.
“The real danger from the web is that it is an unmediated platform. Opinions can easily be doctored or manufactured. The best way to counter fake reviews is to put out correct information; alert hoteliers and destination managers must come up with quick responses,” said Dr. Tharoor.
Dr. Tharoor, a well-known Twitter user with over 1.8 million followers, was also the quiz master of the innovative daily online quiz organised by Kerala Tourism that offered attractive prizes. He described the project as an example of 'the creative use of the web to stimulate interest on a destination'.
Mr. A. P. Anilkumar, Minister for Tourism, Kerala, who was the guest of honour at the function, said that the Kerala government was among the pioneers in marketing tourism through the web and has had a long standing policy of utilizing the internet for tourism promotion.
“Our marketing strategy based on the internet is in the right direction. IT has not just complemented our promotional activities, but has helped to reduce expenditure and significantly lowered our consumption of print products,” said Mr. Anilkumar.
Mr. Suman Billa, Secretary, Kerala Tourism made a presentation on Kerala Tourism’s initiatives in IT over the past few years. Some of the milestones over this period include 8.5 million visitors annually for the official Kerala Tourism website, which also became the highest ranked web page on Google, beating the likes of Taj Mahal; more than 0.3 million likes on the official Facebook page in the past three months alone and over 25,000 visitors to the Ayurveda blog in just three months.
Mr. V. Sreekumara Menon, President of Association of Tourism Trade Organizations said that India was today one of the best markets for players in the tourism industry as the numbers of both inbound and outbound tourists were on the rise.
The conference discussed the latest trends in travel technology, social media and on how digital platforms can be leveraged by the industry. ICTT India featured 17 eminent speakers from countries such as the US, UK, Australia, UAE and India with expertise in the travel industry and digital entrepreneurship. About 23 topics were presented in the conference including social media, online marketing, mobile applications, pricing and distribution strategies, managing reviews and handling competition, revenue management, business intelligence and the future of technology. More than 250 delegates, including tour operators, travel professionals and bloggers from around the country and abroad attended the three-day workshop.
ICTT India was organised by the Association of Tourism Trade Organizations, India (ATTOI) at The Leela in Kovalam with the support of Kerala Tourism.
