Kochi: The tour operators in Kerala will use the social media in China to attract tourists to the state from that country, rated as one of the fastest growing markets of outbound tourists.
A special session on ‘How to do social media tourism promotion to get Chinese tourists’ will be conducted at the third International Conference on Tourism Technology (ICTT) to be held in Kochi on September 26 and 27.
Mr P.K. Anish Kumar, a tour operator and convener of the conference, said, “the social media platforms with which we are familiar do not have any use in China as they have their own platforms.” According to him, the Chinese tourists are not aware of Kerala as they do not get exposure to our tourism products on their social media platforms.
Beijing-based Richard Matuzevich of the World Tourism Cities Federation will lead the opening session, he said. China is one of the fastest growing countries of outbound travel with 16 crore people getting their passports this year itself, he pointed out.
The two-day session will focus mainly on using technology for marketing, branding and facilitating other aspects of the tourism sector. Experts who will address the sessions include Ellie Shedden from Australia on ‘Impact of influential marketing in tourism; Singapore-based David Carollo on ‘Secrets of search engine rankings’ and German expert Hannes Losch’s on ‘Artificial Intelligence and travel revolution.’
Alicia Whalen from Canada will speak on ‘How to create a good story about your brand’ and Brian Marrinan on ‘How to create startup jobs in tourism through online platform.’ A session will also be held on Instagram strategies by Isabel Mosk from Amsterdam.
Domestic tourists: The booking of domestic tourists to Kerala in the Navarathri-Diwali festival season is down by 20-25 percent compared to the pre-flood average. The tourism sector is yet to overcome the back-to-back Nipah outbreak and floods in 2018 and 2019,
The booking varies on individual-to-individual basis but most operators feel a 20-25 percent fall compared with the normal arrivals in the Navarathri-Diwali festival holiday season by upcountry tourists, Mr. Kumar said.
He is however optimistic about a revival in coming days with the cut in GST rates and communication campaign that things are normal in Kerala, said Mr Kumar.
