10th edition of Kerala Travel Mart from September 27

The biennial Kerala Travel Mart (KTM), billed as the country's largest tourism sector conclave of stake-holders from across the world, will be held here from September 27 to 30, organisers said Thursday.

Being held in the wake of the floods that ravaged large swathes of the coastal state, the tenth edition of KTM will focus on measures that would lead to a strong resurgence of tourism, which is the mainstay of Kerala's economy, they said here.

The inaugural session of the four-day event, being organised by the KTM Society in association with the State Tourism Department, will be held at hotel Grand Hyatt, Bolgatty, on September 27.

In the next three days, a series of buyer-seller meets, seminars and policy deliberations will take place at Samudrika and Sagara Convention Centre at Willingdon Island.

"The response to this edition of KTM has been overwhelming with 395 overseas buyers and 1,095 domestic buyers having registered as participants. The complete list of participants for the buyer-seller meet will be released on September 10," KTM Society President, Baby Mathew said.

As in its previous editions, KTM will serve as a strong platform to showcase its time-tested as well as new products of Kerala and establish firm business links by bringing together internationally reputed buyers and sellers and tour operators under one roof, he said.

The new products launched by the state government like the Malabar River Cruise project, focusing on nine rivers in north Kerala, will be showcased before the delegates.

Tourism in Kerala has started recovering fast from the devastation caused by the monsoon rains and floods.

Traffic to major destinations across the state has resumed and bookings ahead of the peak season have picked up.

The upcoming edition of KTM is intended to send a strong signal to the world that the state has the resilience and an indomitable spirit to take in its stride any adverse challenge and move forward.

Delegates from as many as 73 countries will be attending the meet.

The organisers said the KTM was not a celebration but a marketing event to promote tourism in the state.

It is being held with the support of the state government and the Tourism Minister is the patron of KTM Society.

The state government had earlier this week announced that all state-sponsored festivals including those by the tourism department would stand cancelled for a period of one year and the funds allocated for them would be utilised for reconstruction work in flood-hit areas.