Ahmedabad: As the travel industry in Kerala is recovering the pre-pandemic richness, the state has made a solid presence as a superb protected and clean destination of the country at the Travel and Tourism Fair (TTF) that opened in Ahmedabad.
Around 14 tour operators and hoteliers are participating as co-exhibitors at the Kerala pavilion set up by the State Tourism Department at the three-day expo at The Forum Celebration and Convention Centre, Ahmedabad, an official statement said. India’s biggest travel trade show, TTF provides a strong marketing and networking platform for the travel and tourism industry by bringing together major sellers and buyers.
The theme of Kerala Tourism is ‘A Change of Air’, which subtly sums up the fresh ambience palpable in all destinations in the state, offering a novel experience for visitors. Setting the highest priority on the safety of visitors, the southern state has put in place an efficient and meticulous bio-bubble model, creating protective layers of inoculated service providers to receive and host tourists, it said.
The state had also conducted a targeted campaign to vaccinate all the tourism stakeholders in tourism destinations. V R Krishna Teja, Director, Tourism, Kerala, said, “this is the first major tourism fair of the country after the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic that devastated the industry across the world. So, TTF offers us a strong platform to present before the major players how fast we are recovering from the damage inflicted by the pandemic.”
TTF-Ahmedabad was also important for Kerala as the state hosts a good number of guests from Gujarat regularly, he said, adding that forums like this would help reinforce the mutual confidence of stakeholders. Kerala Tourism would also be participating in the Travel and Tourism Fair- Mumbai starting at Nehru Centre, Worli, on September 29, as per the statement.
Signaling the revival of tourism in the state in full swing, the Lakshadweep-bound luxury liner M V Empress with 1,200 cruisers on board called at Kochi on September 22, and 300 of the passengers disembarked at the port city for day-long sight-seeing. Recently, the state announced a stakeholder-friendly Caravan Tourism Policy, promising the visitors safe, customised and closest-to-nature travel experience.
Kerala Tourism has also launched a tourism mobile app that provides detailed information about all the destinations, hotels and other amenities to tourists while travelling within the state