KOCHI: The Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) 2014 that concluded in Kochi on Saturday sought a tourism-friendly liquor policy for the state. The Mart which planned some 30,000 business meets ended up seeing 40,000 of them. In all, 241 international buyers from 45 countries took part in the four-day meet. KTM president Johny Abraham George said that the response to the Mart surpassed expectations. There were 255 seller stalls and in addition to the international buyers, 861 local buyers too took part in the Mart.
The meet also had a series of seminars and business sessions projecting the possibilities of Kerala Tourism. Stalls on the Kerala Village theme helped foreign delegates get a glimpse into the village life of the state. There was demand in the Mart to encourage the Clean Kerala project and also the Responsible Tourism initiatives. Mr George said delegates expressed their anguish over the government move to ban liquor and sought a tourism-friendly policy in this regard. The Mart expressed confidence over the promise given by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy about the concerns regarding the policy during his inaugural address on Wednesday.
