Sensing the immense and innumerable possibilities of promoting Kerala as a destination for ‘Adventure and Activity based Tourism’, the State Tourism Department is focusing on developing new projects to utilise the same, said Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran. Inaugurating a one day workshop organised by the department to give shape to its tourism policy, the Minister said that the need and time has come for the tourism department to evolve itself to cater to the needs of activity and adventure based tourism from now on. While the primary focus at the workshop had been to find new possibilities to take adventure tourism forward in the state, the minister stressed on the need to work closely and in coordination with the Forest Department to realise the goals in the adventure tourism sector. Kerala Tourism is currently planning to re-brand itself and find new avenues to take the sector forward in order to double the tourist arrivals by 2021. Keeping this in mind the department will now start a new ‘Tourist Circuit’ based out of North Kerala and will shift focus from areas it had been concentrating all this while to specifically give thrust to Adventure Tourism with the sole aim of attracting more youngsters to the state. Reiterating the commitment to responsible tourism the minister said that the state government has a definite stand in this regard which will be part of the Tourism Policy that the government will table at upcoming session of the state assembly. Environmental protection and raising the standard of living among the local population are the two primary objectives that the government will focus on as part of responsible tourism. The government will encourage and support new …
Read More »Kerala Tourism Minister to inaugurate International Conference on Tourism Technology
The Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala in association with Association of Tourism Trade Organisations (ATTOI) will host the International Conference on Tourism Technology (ICTT) in Kochi. The three-day long event that will begin on June 8 will be formally inaugurated by Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran on June 9, and it will address the challenges related with technology faced by Indian tourism and hospitality industry. The inaugural function will see a string of high-profile attendees, including Hibi Eden MLA, Dr Venu V, IAS, Principal Secretary, Department of Tourism, and P Bala Kiran, IAS, Director, Department of Tourism. Dr. Venu will launch the twitter campaign #Kerala #IndiaForBeginners and Shri Bala Kiran will launch the Facebook campaign during the inaugural ceremony. “Kerala Tourism has always been a pioneer in taking significant steps to promote state tourism and support the growth of the tourism industry. This conference on tourism technology is yet another initiative undertaken in association with ATTOI. Keeping pace with the technological advancements also helps in reaching out to international tourists by being easily accessible through social media platforms,” said Minister for Tourism, Kadakampally Surendran. “Kerala Tourism, with its new tourism policy, is preparing for a big leap in promoting responsible tourism that benefits the visitor as well as local communities. The government is confident that the progress of the state through tourism is unfinished without the idea of inclusion in terms of increased participation of the community in general,” he added.
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