Saudi Gazette

AS many as 100 senior executives and business leaders from the travel and tourism industry, representing the Gulf and other Middle Eastern countries, will gather in the southern Indian state of Kerala in early May to get to know closely about the vast potential and the real immense opportunities in the state’s vibrant tourism sector. The first edition of the Middle East Travel Mart (MTM 2018), which will be held at the Event Center of Bolgatty Palace in Kochi from May 3 to 6, is expected to bring about a dramatic change in the tourism landscape of Kerala, one of the major tourism destinations in the Indian subcontinent, according to Nazar P Muhammed Veliyankode, chairman of the organizing committee.

The four-day event will see a plethora of activities such as B2B meetings, international tourism summit, interactive sessions, seminars, farm trips, and a cultural fiesta showcasing the folklore arts and traditions of the state. “The prime aim of the event is to make aware to the Arab delegates about the huge tourism potential of Kerala through acquainting them with the famous tourism destinations and thus facilitating them to tap the vast opportunities,” he told Saudi Gazette.

He said the MTM would connect tourism service providers in India directly with the beneficiaries from Middle Eastern countries. “Delegates get to know the business opportunities in Kerala tourism sector, while exhibitors can have one of the best networks of tourism operators and industry leaders to communicate, convince and build businesses in the tourism industry. Instead of focusing on a random group, MTM enables the right connections with right people,” he said, while pointing out that the event is expected to open up job opportunities for expatriates returning from the Gulf, especially Saudi Arabia, in the state’s fast growing tourism sector.

“The registration of delegates for MTM has already reached beyond our expectations, exceeding the ceiling of 100, of which nearly half is from Saudi Arabia,” Veliyankode said, noting majority of delegates will be from the GCC states and the rest from other Middle Eastern countries, mainly Egypt and Lebanon.

The event is expected to be attended by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Indian Minister of State for IT, Culture and Tourism Alphons Kannanthanam, and Sri Lankan Minister of Tourism Development John Amaratunga. “We met recently Amaratunga and discussed with him about the arrangements being made for holding the second edition of MTM in the island state in 2019,” he said.

Veliyankode said, Kerala’s Minister of Tourism Kadakampally Surendran launched the MTM flyer last December while Member of Parliament and former Indian Minister Prof. K.V. Thomas launched the stall booking for the event in January.

“More than 40 stalls have already been booked by exhibitors, who include major stakeholders from the hospitality and health sectors such as hotels, resorts, Ayurvedic centers & Spa, hospitals and diverse tourism related firms and organizations. It will be a unique event in the history of Kerala tourism that encourages an effective platform for interaction and promotion of new business opportunities at a single venue, thereby enhancing the insight of the MTM delegates over the unique tourism spots of Kerala,” said Veliyankode, who is president of MTM Society and managing director of Kishti Events Co., that are organizing the event.

The delegates will get first-hand experience of Kerala tourism by visiting the most popular tourism destinations such as Munnar, Thekkady, and Kumarakom, which is famous for its backwater tourism.

He said that preparations for the event started one and a half years ago. “We are keen on hosting leading tour operators with at least 15 years of reputable experience in the field from the West Asian countries,” he said. The event is the first and biggest B2B platform to promote Kerala tourism with the presence of a wide variety of exhibitors.

At MTM, the delegates are assured of an innovative space to directly meet the exhibitors for better reach and networking opportunities for a long-term prospect. Being an exclusive event to learn and benefit the perks from the travel industry’s pioneers, trend-setters and current leaders, MTM opens up with incredible options for business growth.

Veliyankode noted that MTM aims to attract the maximum number of tourists from the Middle East, which is the world’s fastest-growing outbound market. “Though around 60 percent of the total population of the Middle East travels across different countries, not even five percent of them choose Kerala as their tourist destination. Kerala, with its right kind of product and services, better trade policies, safety, fewer concerns of language barriers and a location of easy reach, was not tapped by the Arab traveler,” he said, while noting that a right kind of marketing and awareness shall bring more Arabs to this region.