Sunday, Sep 22, 2002
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Kerala
By Our Staff Reporter
Addressing a news conference here today, Prof. Thomas said that this includes a seminar on various aspects of tourism, the Kerala Travel Mart 2002 and the first ever National Boat Show. The Mart will be inaugurated by A. K. Antony, Chief Minister, at the International Convention Centre here on October 3 and Jagmohan, Union Minister for Tourism and Culture, will be the chief guest. The Union Minister of State for Tourism and Culture, Vinod Khanna, is expected to participate in the National Boat Show to be held on October 5 at the Bolgatty Palace, Prof. Thomas said. The first in the series would be a two-day seminar on tourism — `People to People' — at the Taj Residency on September 27 and 28. The seminar, being organised in association with the Ernakulam Press Club, is being held so as to create an awareness among the public about various tourism initiatives. The inaugural ceremony of the seminar will be followed by a tourism and media session on September 27. This will be followed by an open forum for discussion of common issues. The final day will feature two sessions — one on ecotourism and wildlife and green tourism and another on tourism - Growing together. Eminent personalities like Nalini Singh, George Varghese, Mrinalini Sarabhai, T. V. R. Shenoy, Mandip Singh Soin, M. S. Gopalakrishnan and V. K. Madhavankutty among others are expected to attend the seminar. The Kerala Travel Mart (KTM), scheduled from October 3 to 5, will have the participation of the Tourism Departments from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Pondicherry, Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar. The Department of Tourism has been marketing KTM aggressively abroad and as a result this year's Mart will feature buyers from new countries like Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Korea, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nepal, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Sweden — many of which were not there during last Mart. Already about 750 participants have registered for the KTM 2002. The idea is to strengthen South Indian tourism and promote Kerala as the "green gateway to India'', said T. Balakrishnan, secretary, Kerala Tourism. The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), the Travel Agents' Association of India (TAAI), the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), the FH & RAI and the Union Minister for Tourism, along with major airlines and leading hotels in the city have offered their support for the KTM 2002. There had been an increase of about 10 per cent in tourist movement after the last KTM, even though there was a general recession in the industry following September 11 attack, said Mr. Balakrishnan. The National Boat Show (NBS), the first ever exhibition of boats, watersports accessories, safety accessories related to tourism and fisheries, is being organised in association with the Union Ministry of Tourism and the National Institute of Watersports, Goa. The Indian Navy, Coast Guard, Cochin Port Trust, Kerala State Inland Navigation Co. and Cochin Shipyard are also supporting this venture. Even though the organisers were expecting a maximum of 25 participants, about 75 participants have already registered for the NBS. The concept of the NBS is an integral marketing of possibilities of our waterbodies from perspectives of water transport, tourism and fisheries, Mr. Balakrishnan said.
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