Kochi: The buyer-seller meeting of the 10th edition of Kerala Travel Mart at Willingdon Island here began on a rousing note on Friday with hundreds of delegates representing travel agencies and tour operators converging at the stalls.
Although there was good footfall at KTM, billed as the signature event for showcasing Kerala to the world of travel and tourism industry, sellers largely remained apprehensive of the business in the forthcoming season in the wake of the devastating floods in the state.
“The number of visitors looked impressive but we will have to wait and watch how many of them will turn out to be tangible business proposals,” said Mr Abraham George, immediate past president of the KTM Society. “We are getting a very positive feedback from the delegates. If it turns into business deals, the industry can expect very good business,” he said.
The delegates are mainly concerned about the impact of the floods on the main tourism destinations. Although the government and the industry are trying their level best to remove the lingering doubts, a good section of the potential travellers is still wary of the conditions in the state, said a seller. A short film of the government shown widely on television networks seeking financial assistance to the chief minister’s distress relief fund for the reconstruction of the state may adversely affect the industry, said another seller.
The majority of sellers felt it is only a question of time before the industry rebounds from bad effects of the flood. Delegates from abroad and other parts of the country will have a first-hand experience of the situation here and they will convey the same to their clients back home, they felt.
The tourism industry in the state has shown its resilience post the devastating floods and the way it has revived itself is astounding, Union Minister of State for Tourism K.J. Alphons said.
Inaugurating the exhibition stalls, he said “I give emphasis on Kerala Tourism’s ability to recoup after a severe natural calamity as an epitome wherever I go. We bounced back defeating all the never-seen-before challenges. It gives a positive sign that tourism has regained its vigour after the floods,” he said.
The KTM, with 325 sellers in 400 stalls, has 1,635 buyers who are top functionaries of firms in tourism industry within the country and outside. The number of foreign buyers is 545, and they come from 66 countries, including the USA, Russia, Japan, China, Australia and Britain. There are also 1,090 domestic buyers.
