Kerala Tourism is giving itself a push to look beyond the traditional West Asia market, showcasing a wide array of products and services in the thriving markets of China, Singapore and Japan in a renewed attempt to raise the profile of the state as a must-visit destination and ensure brand visibility.

As part of the initiative, a high-profile delegation of the Tourism Department, Kerala, including trade partners from the state, participated in the China International Travel Mart (CITM) 2019 at Kunming and also organised two roadshows in Shanghai and Beijing. Kerala Tourism Secretary Rani George, who led the delegation, made a presentation on the potential of Kerala and is tourism products. The event was attended by 84 buyers and representatives of prominent media establishments had the theme Human by Nature, a three-minute campaign film, launched to appeal to high-spenders and backpackers. 

Kerala Tourism is trying to create brand visibility in East Asian markets. 

Parallel to having interactions with B2C representatives, B2B meetings with trade partners from Kerala were also held, opening doors for god’s own country as a renowned destination in the product catalogue of Singapore-based operators. In 2018, the country sent 9460 tourists to the Indian state. The co-exhibitors from Kerala also held meetings with tour operators and media from Japan to create awareness about the state, following their participation in the Tourism Expo Japan, which was organised for the time in Osaka attracting more than 2,25,000 visitors and representatives of over 100 businesses from 130 countries. 

Being one of the first Indian state to be partnered with ‘China Ready’ programme, Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran said “We are trying to ensure brand visibility in East Asian markets using innovative strategies. China is an important emerging market for Kerala Tourism. In just two decades, it has become the world’s largest outbound travel market, with some 145 million Chinese travellers visiting abroad in 2017”.