Participants from around 50 countries are expected to converge in Kochi as part of the three-day Kerala Travel Mart 2008, which begins here on September 20.
Following up on the travel marts held earlier, the Kerala government will organise the event at the Le-Meridien Convention Centre. This is the fifth edition of the travel mart and is expected to provide a platform for tourism players in the public and private sector, who are joining hands to promote tourism in the state.
The total number of stalls the KTM would offered has gone up to 60. The participants include 14 ayurveda centres, 26 home stays, 16 houseboats, 78 resorts, 59 tour operators, 46 hotels and 8 specialty hospitals. Hotel majors such as the Taj Group, Le-Meridien, The Leela, CGH Earth, Abad Group, and KTDC will also participate in the mart.
As many as 970 domestic and 570 international buyers have already registered for participation at the mart. The previous year’s event had seen 300 international and 500 domestic buyers. Foreign participants include from countries like Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, China, Austria, Singapore, Malaysia, while on the domestic front, delegates are expected to arrive from states such as Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan.
As part of the three-day event, three seminars are also being organised. The themes would dwell upon Responsible Tourism and rural tourism.
The event will be inaugurated by chief minister VS Achuthanandan.
