The 11th edition of the Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) will be held at Kochi in September 2020, as India’s largest congregation of tourism industry will see stakeholders across the country and abroad seek new ways to promote business.
Announcing the event
at a press conference on October 17,
Mr.KadakampallySurendran, Tourism Minister, said KTM 2020 will aim at exploring
new markets for Champions Boat League (CBL), adventure tourism and MICE
(Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions) along with finding
excellent global buyers.
“KTM 2020 will be a four-day event starting on September 24, 2020, with two days packed with sessions involving international buyers, MICE operators and corporate houses. The remaining two days will be for those involved in domestic tourism,” the minister said. The afternoon session on the final day will be open to the general public.
The biennial conclave, being organised by the KTM Society with support from the Kerala Government’s Department of Tourism, will see increased number of quality buyers from countries that have the potential to boost the state’s travel industry. Further, KTM 2020 aims to go a step ahead in buyer selection, stall allocation and buyer-seller appointment.
The venue will be Sagara and Samudrika convention centres of Cochin Port Trust in Willingdon Island.
The focus on finding major buyers from across the globe comes in continued pursuit of new kind of tourists at the national and international levels. KTM 2020 will hold presentations with this in mind, considering that the travel mart’s 2018 edition could lent fresh energy to Kerala’s tourism sector and help it regain lost ground after the year’s flood.
KTM 2020 will accord importance to Kerala Tourism’s pioneering CBL modelled on IPL cricket. The three-month event was held at different venues in six districts of the coastal state. The 12-round boat league has already wooed 10 lakh spectators.
Adventure tourism will be another area that KTM 2020 will focus on. Kerala aims to boost its new products in activities such as trekking, mountaineering, river rafting, paragliding and off-roading.
Praising the tremendous support of the government to KTM, Mr. Baby Mathew Somatheeram, President, KTM Society, said unlike in the past, the four-day schedule has been fixed for providing a platform for buyers and sellers to hold effective interactions.
A third segment to be promoted will be MICE tourism. Kerala is becoming a major destination for international conclaves, which aid MICE. Recently, the India Conventions Promotion Bureau opened a Kerala chapter.
Mr.Swaminathan S, Vice-President, KTM; Mr. Jose Pradeep, Secretary, KTM; Mr.Scaria Jose, Treasurer; Mr. E M Najeeb, Mr. Abraham George, and Mr.RiazAhamed, former presidents of KTM; and managing committee members of KTM were also present.
KTM 2018 had 1,305 buyers, a third of them from foreign nations. Those from abroad totalled 442: buyers from 58 countries including the US, Russia, Japan, China, Australia and Britain. The domestic buyers totalled 863. The sellers had set up 313 stalls in an expansive venue of 75,000 square feet, showcasing a wide array of products and services and drawing encouraging response from the general public as well.
