: In an effort to woo more travellers from America,Kerala Tourism showcased its signature assets before leading stakeholders of the travel and tourism industry and held trade meets in major cities of the USA.
New Jersey, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles were the four American cities where Kerala Tourism held trade meets during February, a Kerala Tourism press release said.
"USA is the second largest market for Kerala Tourism after Europe. The four trade meets conducted there were part of a concerted campaign to tap the full potential of the American travel market.
The campaign was aimed at tapping the premium segment of travellers from USA," Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran said in a release.
"We also wanted to send out a strong message to American travellers and prominent stakeholders of travel and hospitality industry in that country that Kerala has fully overcome the impact of last year's floods and is ready to receive the guests with an array of new products and fascinating destinations," he added.
Tourism Secretary Rani George, who led the trade meets, said Kerala may be a long-haul destination, but its 'touristy charm' has remained undiminished for travellers from America.
There has been a consistent uptick in the number of U.S travellers visiting Kerala.
In 2018, the number of tourists from USA visiting Gods Own Country was pegged at 96,522 compared to 75,773 in 2015.
The number of total international arrivals to Kerala in 2018 was 10,96,407.
This was the fourth trade meet of Kerala Tourism in USA aimed at attracting high-spender tourists from that country.
Rani George said the trade meets generated a very positive and good response. Kerala Tourism unveiled new destinations and tourism products at meetings with tour operators to woo U.S travellers and make them aware of magnificent holiday options in the state.
The chief guests at the trade meets in USA were Shatrughna Sinha, Deputy Consul General, Consulate General of India in New Jersey; Neeta Bhushan, Consul General in Chicago; Dr Anupam Ray, Consul General, Houston; and Rohit Rathish , Deputy Consul General, San Francisco.
India Tourism also joined in all the trade meets and extended their unconditional support.
As part of the trade meets 'Go Kerala Contest' was conducted, where Air India provided two airline tickets per city to the winners for a FAM trip to Kerala.
Kerala Tourism has chalked out a series of trade meets in international markets in a bid to substantially increase footfalls to the state.
Earlier this year, it had held trade meets in Rome, Vienna, Zurich and Prague.
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