THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Tourism has begun the second leg of its international campaign with trade fairs and B2B meets. The first phase of the campaign had ended on November 30. The second phase has started with Kerala Tourism putting up a stall at ‘Vakantiebeurs,’ the tourism fair of the Netherlands, on January 9.
The next will be the five-day FITUR, the international tourism trade fair of Spain, which will begin on January 17. “Spain is important as it is one European country that has still not discovered our shores,” a top tourism department official said. Spain contributes less than two percent of our foreign tourists. From Spain, Kerala Tourism will travel to Germany. On January 23 and 25, the first roadshows of the second phase will be conducted in the German cities of Dusseldorf, a hotspot of fashion and art, and Hamburg, Germany’s second-largest city known as a major European science, research and education hub, with several universities and institutes.
On January 26, Kerala Tourism will take part in the three-day New York Times show. “This will also mark the start of our promotions in the United States, the tourism potential of which we had never really attempted to tap,” the official said. Less than 8 percent of the foreign tourist arrivals to the state are from the USA. The venues of the roadshows in the U.S are Los Angeles (January 30) and San Francisco (February 1).
Kerala Tourism will mark its presence in the BIT 2018 Milan International Travel Fair in Italy from February 11. It will also participate in the five-day ITB Berlin from March 7 and the roadshow at Marseille in France on March 13. The second phase of the campaign will conclude with the roadshows in Milan, Italy, on March 15. As many as 12 trade fairs and 24 roadshows have been planned as part of the campaign.
