Tourism News
KTM 2016 to Focus on Responsible Tourism
The 2016 edition of Kerala Travel Mart (KTM), which is the largest gathering of tourism stakeholders in the State, will be held in Kochi in September with its focus on Responsible Tourism.
Informing this, Mr. A. P. Anilkumar, Minister for Tourism, Kerala, said that the Samudrika Convention Centre would be the venue of the event slated to take place from September 28 to the 30th. Organized by the Kerala Travel Mart Society in association with Kerala Tourism, the ninth edition of KTM is expected to attract nearly 1,100 buyers from around the country and abroad.
“KTM 2016 will reach out to buyers from new markets like Australia, Austria, Brazil, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Middle East, Norway, Poland, South Africa, Sweden and USA, with special emphasis on raising the quality of participation next year,” said Mr. A. P. Anilkumar.
KTM brings together business entrepreneurs offering various tourism products and services, including tour operators, hotels, resorts, homestays, houseboats, Ayurveda resorts and centres of culture and art, onto a single platform and facilitates their meeting and interaction with buyers from around the world.
The mart will also project Kerala as an ideal breakaway destination for weddings and honeymoons along with its Ayurveda and leisure products. All of these are emerging segments for tourist destinations with the aim to increase the State’s tourism market share by an additional Rs. 50,000 million.
Mr. G. Kamala Vardhana Rao, Secretary, Kerala Tourism, said that a break-up of present statistics showed United Kingdom as the country that brought in the maximum percentage of international tourists to the State. This is followed by France, US and Germany. The aim is to increase the number of tourists from the US in the next two years, he added.
KTM, a biennial event is the only travel mart in the country to showcase a single destination. The 266 stalls of ninth edition will spread over 75,000 sq. ft of air-conditioned space and include food courts, press-room and other key facilities.
The ‘Hosted Buyer Programme’ is a unique component of KTM. It provides the buyers an opportunity to meet with the exhibitors of their choice for focused one-to-one sessions with pre-fixed appointments. Select buyers will receive complimentary accommodation, local transfers, a post-Mart FAM Tour and participation at networking evenings.
The pre-registration of buyers will commence on 5 January 2016. Each pre-registration form will be scrutinized by a committee. Registration for sellers will begin by February 2016.
For more details and updates visit www.keralatravelmart.org
