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On a global outreach drive with a clutch of new products and initiatives, Kerala Tourism made a big impression at FITUR, the world’s second most important tourism fair in Spain’s capital Madrid, which was held from January 18 to 22, 2022.
The Kerala Tourism Minister Mr P A Mohamed Riyas, who led the Kerala delegation to the fair, had a meeting with King Felipe VI of Spain, who inaugurated the 43rd edition of FITUR, a key meeting point of tourism stakeholders and professionals from around the world.
King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain visited the Incredible India Pavilion at the fair after the inauguration.
Significantly, Kerala’s participation in FITUR comes in the wake of the State Tourism Department kicking off a major campaign to regain international tourist footfalls after the pandemic-induced lull.
Kerala Tourism’s pavilion at the fair, featuring stunning images of the state’s unique festivals which lured the delegate’s attention, was jointly inaugurated by Mr Riyas and Mr Dinesh Patnaik, Indian Ambassador to Spain. The Additional Secretary of Tourism, Government of India, Mr Rakesh Kumar Verma was present on the occasion.
The deliberations at the fair have strengthened Kerala’s expectations of a spike in the arrival of tourists from Spain in the upcoming tourism season.
The trade partners of Kerala Tourism at the fair were CGH Earth, Abad Hotels and Resorts, Somatheeram Ayurveda Group, and Travel Corporation (India). A total of 18,947 tourists from Spain, an important European market for Kerala, visited the state in the year before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kerala proposes to host UNWTO Meet
Kerala has expressed keen interest in hosting a major global event of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) even as the UN tourism agency proposed to conduct a workshop in the state later this year.
The proposal to host a global meet in the state was made by the Kerala Tourism Minister Mr P. A. Mohamed Riyas during interactions with a UNWTO delegation led by its Asian and Pacific Regional Department Deputy Director, Mr Harry Hwang, in Madrid.
Besides inviting UNWTO officials to the upcoming Responsible Tourism Global Summit in Kerala, the Minister also suggested that the UN tourism agency consider holding its General Body or an Executive meeting in 2024 in Kerala.
