Governor Arif Mohammad Khan will inaugurate the May 5-8 Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) on Thursday, setting the stage for the country’s biggest tourism event after two years of pandemic-induced lull and charting ways to boost the sector that has been central to the state’s economy.

Industrialist MA Yusuff Ali will be the guest of honour at the Grand Hyatt in Bolgatty. The opening session will see a sample show of the second edition of the IPL-modelled Champions Boat League, a water race being organised by Kerala Tourism from post-monsoon Onam.

The subsequent procedures of KTM-2022 from Friday will be held at Sagara and Samudrika convention centres in Willingdon Island. The venue will host no less than 55,000 business meetings on May 6, 7 and 8. On the concluding day, the public will have access to the pavilions in both venues for five hours starting at 1 p.m.

The paper-less event is scheduled to take place in 1.5 lakh sq-ft space, according to KTM Society President Baby Mathew. It will feature 325 stalls.

KTM-2022 is aimed at showcasing the state’s strength in the tourism sector before a global audience, the meet is organising seminars on various topics led by officials, experts, and stakeholders. Exhibitions on key tourism themes will be a major attraction of the mart being organised as a public-private partnership.

In 2019, tourism contributed nearly 12 per cent to Kerala’s GDP and the State government was aggressively trying to increase it to 15 per cent through various schemes. But two years of pandemic reduced tourist traffic to a trickle in the state, with unofficial estimates pegging losses at over ₹35,000 crore. In 2019 the revenue from tourism was over ₹45,000 crore and plunged to ₹11,000 crore in 2020.

Not surprisingly, the tourism machinery in the State is putting its collective might behind the tourism revival event that will present all the attractions of God’s Own Country, natural and manmade.

Key attractions

Caravan and adventure tourism are some of the key attractions of KTM-2022, which will have delegates from 69 countries, besides buyers from 25 States within the country. Domestic buyers total 1,000, while those from abroad will be around 240.

Last year, the KTM organised a virtual summit in March, facilitating more than 7,000 business meetings that enabled the travel industry to take major strides in overcoming the Covid-triggered economic crisis. That online event saw a virtual buyers’ meet with participants from across the world, including India.

KTM Society, which is the country’s biggest organisation in the travel and tourism segment, has been working towards reviving the industry since the spread of the novel coronavirus two years ago.

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