The Hindu Business Line : Kerala woos Gujaratis with veg cuisine

Reaching out
New packages would be restructured for Gujarati tourists and modalities for offering them vegetarian food would soon be worked out.
To tap the Gujarati market, the Kerala Department of Tourism today organised a road show here, to be followed by another in Vadodara.

Virendra Pandit

Ahmedabad, April 29

Kerala, whose revenue from tourism increased by more than 25 per cent in 2007, is now wooing Gujarati tourists by what attracts them the most: Vegetarian food.

“We are aware of Gujarati tourists’ need for vegetarian food and we are taking care of that,” Mr M. Sivasankar, Director, Kerala Tourism, told Business Line here today after a road show. Kerala Tourism is also talking to Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd (TGCL) to extend all help to tourists from this State.

To reach out to the Gujarati market, the Kerala Department of Tourism today organised a road show here, to be followed by another in Vadodara.

Mr Sivasankar led a 25-member delegation comprising hoteliers and tour operators, who held meetings with their counterparts here. New packages would be restructured for Gujarati tourists and modalities for offering them vegetarian food would soon be worked out.

He said special summer trains from Gandhidham and Porbander to Kerala are operated by the Indian Railways annually, which are seen as boosting the State’s tourist traffic to the southern State.

The total revenue from tourism in Kerala during 2007 was Rs 11,433 crore (including Rs 2,641 crore worth of foreign exchange), an increase of 25.28 per cent over the previous year.

international arrivals

While international arrivals recorded a significant 20.92 per cent increase over the previous year’s figures, the domestic tourist arrivals marked a 5.92 per cent increase.

A total of 66.42 lakh domestic and 5.15 lakh foreign tourists came to Kerala in 2006-07.

In order to increase the percentage of domestic tourists, Kerala Tourism has launched a string of innovative programmes.

One such is ‘Dream Season’ targeting the domestic holidaymakers in the traditional off-season (April-September).

Some private operators are trying to woo tourists by offering off-season holiday packages for as low as Rs 4,444 for a person.

Another programme is Kerala Travel Mart (KTM), showcasing the best of the State in what is the only tourism mart in the sub-continent that brings together the business fraternity and entrepreneurs behind the tourism products and services of the State.

This year’s KTM would be hosted in Kochi from September 20 to 23.

More Stories on : Tourism | Gujarat | Kerala

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