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Marketing Kerala in Scandinavia Tourism trail

Wooing tourists: Danish tour operators meeting stakeholders of the Kerala tourism industry at a road show in Copenhagen.

Kerala Tourism and stakeholders of the tourism industry have joined hands to organise road shows in Scandinavian countries to promote the State as a holiday destination.

One of the largest travel delegations from the State, led by Director of Tourism M. Sivasankar, is in Scandinavia to woo tourists. Seventeen trade representatives, including hoteliers and tour operators, are in the delegation.

More tourists from the Scandinavian countries are visiting the State over the last few years. But, the market still remains largely untapped.

In 2008, Sweden showed a 103 per cent growth in tourist arrivals to the State while Denmark registered a 46.3 per cent increase in arrivals over the previous year. Finland and Norway also show a potential for growth for the State.

As part of promoting the destination, road shows were held in Oslo, Copenhagen and Helsinki. A total of 59 major tour operators (buyers) participated in the Helsinki road show, 56 in the Copenhagen road show and 49 in Oslo.

The road show was held in Stockholm on Thursday. Kerala Tourism will also be participating in the 10-day ‘Delicious Kerala’ food festival and the three-day ‘Allt For Halsan’ (health and wellness) exhibition.

“Scandinavia is a growing market for Kerala. Within Scandinavia, Sweden commands the largest share of outbound travel market in terms of volume and value. Hence, we are keen to develop this market,” Mr. Sivasankar said.

The other markets show a growing potential and our objective is to showcase Kerala and the trade to tour operators, who have not yet migrated to selling Kerala.

Swedes are one of the most frequent international travellers favouring sunny destinations. This combined with interest in good health has prompted Kerala Tourism to attend the ‘Allt for Halshan’ show for the first time to reach out to consumers in a market where there is growing demand and interest in ayurveda. Kerala will be marketed as ‘the Home of Ayurveda’ at the health and wellness exhibition, which is Sweden’s largest health event. More than 25,000 people are expected to attend the exhibition commencing Friday.

The food festival will be held at four city restaurants in Stockholm. Swedish diners will also get a chance to win free holidays to Kerala provided by Qatar Airways and Getaway, a Swedish tour operator partnering Kerala Tourism.

S. Anil Radhakrishnan

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Marketing Kerala in Scandinavia Tourism trail

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