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Mr. Kadakampally Surendran, Minister for Tourism, has flagged off the fourth edition of Kerala Blog Express (KBE) from Bolgatty Palace in Ernakulam which will see thirty influential online travel writers from across the world explore the state and pen pieces on it. The campaign is envisaged at presenting the multitude of attractions of the state to a wider international audience.
“The Blog Express is an innovation that we have pioneered and we will continue to raise the bar for tourism marketing in future,” said the Minister. “Blog Express initiative has definitely augmented the destination pull of Kerala and given an impetus to building and sustaining the tempo of tourism growth, a sector which is so crucial for Kerala’s economy,” he said and wished the bloggers a wonderful trip.
The pool of 30 bloggers from 29 countries sees a representation from all the continents and was selected through a voting system. They will traverse hills, beaches, backwaters and experience life in villages and cities, as part of the award-winning promotional campaign of Kerala Tourism.
Besides UK, Germany, Italy and Spain, this year travel writers have arrived from regions such as Moldova and Gibraltar as well. The only Indian in the group is Dipanshu Goyal from New Delhi and the most experienced blogger is Carla Mota from Portugal who has travelled to around 82 countries over the years. Most of the bloggers are visiting India for the first time.
KBE was piloted in 2014 as a social media campaign, familiarisation trip, bloggers meet and road trip all rolled into one. The programme was conceived with the aim of creating a pool of global brand ambassadors, who, having experienced Kerala at close quarters reach out to aspiring international travellers.
Over the past three editions the KBE has shaped 87 such ambassadors, who have documented their journeys, experiences and memories across conventional, digital and social media platforms in several different languages, taking the Kerala Tourism brand to a wider audience.
The participants are selected through an online voting process and more than 5,300 entries have been received over the last four years implying the growth KBE has undergone over the years.
The campaign itself has set new benchmarks in destination marketing. The third edition of KBE last year won the Bronze for Social Media (Outreach) at the prestigious ABBY Awards 2016. It generated more than 9,000 tweets, over 300,000 website visits, over 2,000 Instagram pictures and more than 100 blog articles. Kerala, as a travel destination, was covered on the Czech National radio, Polish radio, Bulgarian radio and in TV shows and local newspapers in New Zealand and Italy.
KBE 4 will travel through Alappuzha, Kumarakom, Thekkady, Munnar, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod before completing its journey on April 3 in the capital city Thiruvananthapuram, where the guests will be given a grand farewell by Kerala Tourism.
