The Hindu Business Line : UK tour operators to hold court in Kerala

AITO, an association of some of the UK’s leading specialist tour operators, will hold its annual conference in Kochi from November 18-22 this year, said a Kerala Tourism press statement. Explaining the organisation’s decision to chose Kochi as the venue for its annual conference, Mr Derek Moore, Chairman, AITO, said in the statement: “We decided to go somewhere exotic and different, somewhere exciting, and in a place AITO has not been before.”

Members of the organisation are independent companies, many of them owner-managed, that specialise in particular destinations or types of holidays. AITO is possibly the first tourism industry association to incorporate into its business charter a commitment to responsible travel and green tourism, the statement added.

Expressing happiness at AITO’s choice of Kerala, Dr V. Venu, Secretary (Tourism), Government of Kerala, said that the conference is expected to bring significant gains for the State. Kerala Tourism will do its best to see that the conference delegates “have a meaningful and enjoyable time in Kerala,” he added.

The UK is the biggest in-bound tourism market for Kerala and the AITO event will bring some of key decision makers in the UK’s travel and tourism industry to the State, he pointed out. “The hosting of the AITO conference will be a big boost for the promotion of Kerala in the UK, which contributed over 140,000 tourists in 2008, with a nearly 25 per cent market share of the total international arrivals to the State,” added Mr M. Sivasankar, Director, Kerala Tourism.