Kerala made a decisive surge towards ending two years of the pandemic-riddled lull in its tourism activities, as Kerala Travel Mart concluded on Sunday with Chief Secretary VP Joy hailing the country’s biggest buyer-seller meet as a springboard to regaining visitors after Covid-19.

The four-day KTM-2022 has been an exemplary model for public-private partnership, triggering a mood of enthusiasm among the State’s tourism stakeholders, he said at the valedictory ceremony of the May 5-8 meet in Kochi.

“The government will provide the KTM Society and the entire tourism fraternity all its support to revitalise the travel industry in Kerala,” Joy told the final session.

UN’s Human Development Index

Noting that Kerala has figured on the list of the UN’s Human Development Index during the past three years, the top bureaucrat highlighted the role of tourists for the State’s economy to progress steadily. “We have both beautiful nature and warm people. We must strengthen tourism infrastructure,” he pointed out at the end of KTM-2022 which had delegates from 69 countries holding 55,000 business meets.

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KTM Society President, Baby Mathew Somatheeram, said the mart will be followed by a travel package for 300 delegates to the State’s northern, central and southern regions. “We have also arranged a chartered flight to Kannur. They will have a week’s local tour to know more about Malabar, which is our new focus of tourism,” he added.

KTM 2022, which featured 325 stalls gave a platform to around 1,500 buyers, more than 300 of them international. The 2000-constituted KTM Society, which is the country’s biggest organisation in the travel and tourism segment, has been working towards reviving the industry since the spread of Coronavirus two years ago.

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