Category: Kerala

Association of Tourism Trade Organizations, India (ATTOI) has received ‘Safe Travels Stamp” from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) to follow international norms for ‘safe, secure and seamless’ journeys and stays in the post-COVID world. ATTOI will follow the norms under a ‘Safe Travels Stamp’ curated by London-headquartered WTTC, the global body for the sector, said Mr C S Vinod, President of the ATTOI which promotes tourism in various sectors and strengthens business relationships. The stamp, designed to usher in the new normal and build trust in travellers to travel again, will permit travellers to recognise those governments and ... Read more

The Kerala Tourism Department is trying to promote regional tourism through its new initiative called ‘Keralam Kanam’ or ‘Let’s see Kerala’, in which the people of the state are encouraged to visit the backwaters, beaches, hill stations and houseboats to get over the stress caused by the pandemic. The official launch of the online project www.malayaliyatra.com will be done by Kerala Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran on August 26 (Wednesday) at 12.30 pm via a video conference. With the COVID-19 devastating the tourism industry, the Kerala Tourism Department is trying its best to recapture the past glory of the industry. It is hoped ... Read more

The tourism industry of Kerala is largely supportive yet not even 50% of the industry partners are associating with the Responsible Tourism (RT) Mission activities, says Rupesh Kumar, the State’s Responsible Tourism Mission Coordinator. We hope by implementing the RT Classification system, industry partners will automatically cooperate with the Mission since RT Classification is a promotional tool in the international tourism market. Our activities have created a new face for Kerala Tourism in the national and international tourism market and RT has become a kind of tagline for Kerala Tourism, he says. Excerpts from an interview: Q: In what way has ... Read more

The State and Central governments should support the tourism sector by offering moratorium on loan repayments for a period of 24 months, says Prasad Manjali, Director of Contour Group of Hotels & Resorts. They could also look at supporting salary payments of the hospitality and tourism employees, notes Manjali, who is also the Managing Director & CEO of Citrine Hospitality Ventures. He says the cost of property maintenance including basic salaries of staff, lease payments, generator fuel expenses and electricity was tough to deal with. The staff panicked as they realised that the pandemic had created instability, he says in ... Read more

The President of the Wayanad Tourism Organisation (WTO), K R  Vancheeswaran, says that since properties in Wayanad are largely MSMEs, the chances of them closing down are very high.The quick buck makers are bound to close down, while the more serious and resilient ones will weather the storm and get back on their feet, he says. There are many fly-by-night operators who have already shut shop, Vancheeswaran, says in an exclusive interview, which is part of our mini-series Wayanad Matters. This being a glamour industry there are many who can’t even openly state their plight, for it will affect their pride. ... Read more

Emirates will operate repatriation flights to Bengaluru, Kochi, Delhi, Mumbai, and Thiruvananthapuram till August 31. These special flights will facilitate travel for Indian citizens in the UAE wishing to return home, and for UAE residents who are currently in India. Only Indian citizens stranded in the UAE will be allowed to fly from Dubai to the five Indian destinations. All flights will be operated with the Emirates Boeing 777-300ER and can be booked on emirates.com or via travel agents. Passengers must meet all the entry requirements of the destination to be allowed to board the flights. Flights will be available for UAE nationals ... Read more

The Association of Tourism Trade Organisations India (ATTOI) has urged the Indian government to initiate direct flights between Thiruvananthapuram and various European cities, to rekindle interest among European guests to visit the state of Kerala. ATTOI President Vinod CS has said that starting air travel services to cities like Frankfurt, London, Zurich and Dublin will help to rejuvenate the tourism sector in Kerala, especially in the post-COVID scenario. “The greater connectivity to Europe will help European travellers to visit us more often, thus contributing more foreign exchange earnings for the state,” he said. “I hope the Central government can expedite ... Read more

Chandy’s Windy Woods, Munnar, has been awarded by TripAdvisor, as the “first among the best 25 luxury hotels in India” and also as the “9th among top 25 hotels in Asia”. It also has been ranked “17th among world’s top 25 hotels”. Chandy’s Windy Woods, Munnar, has always been a “classic choice” for family vacations, honey mooning, destination weddings and corporate events, the hotel management said in a statement. “We believe our success mantra to be our quality service, hospitality, food and of course the breath-taking view of the tea plantation from every room,” the statement added. “We are humbled by this ... Read more

Kerala’s Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran has termed the Central Government decision to lease out the Thiruvananthapuram Airport to Adani Enterprises as a “big scam”. “This is daylight robbery. Despite our requests, the airport has been leased to the Adani group, which is a large conglomerate,” the minister said. Adani has won the rights to operate the airport for 50 years. The Kerala government has been opposing privatisation of the Thiruvananthapuram airport for a long time. The state had even expressed willingness to create a separate company to run the airport. The minister termed the privatization move as unacceptable citing that ... Read more

The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the proposal for leasing out three airports, Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram, to Adani Enterprises that won these in an auction last year. Billionaire Gautam Adani-led private developer had emerged as the successful bidder in a global competitive bidding conducted by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).  The AAI will get an upfront amount of Rs 1,070 crore from handing over the airports to the private developer, said Union minister Prakash Javadekar. “The upfront amount of Rs 1,070 crore that will come to AAI will be used for developing airports in smaller airports. The other benefit ... Read more

KTM President Baby Mathew Somatheeram has said the state government’s announcement to support the tourism sector with a financial package, should have come earlier. “I am happy that such a move has happened at least now, though there has been some delay. It should have happened earlier. For months, KTM has been trying to ask the government for this support. Every month we have been following up,” he said. Still, many things are yet to be announced, he added. For example, support for the houseboat sector. KTM had met with the chief minister and tourism minister, finance minister, industries minister ... Read more

The Kerala government will shortly announce a relief package aimed at homestays and houseboats, CKTI President EM Najeeb has said. CKTI President EM Najeeb said he has personally met the minister to congratulate him for the relief package announced. “The government’s relief package is a morale booster for the entire Kerala tourism industry. The industry will stand united and support the government,” he said. “The minister has assured me that shortly the government will announce a relief package for homestays, houseboats and guides,” Najeeb said. “Kerala’s tourism sector will get rejuvenated by this move. Considering that the Union government has ... Read more

Kerala Tourism has announced a Rs 455 crore loan scheme to support the sector which has been decimated by the COVID-19 pandemic, in a move that’s bound to bring substantial relief to the industry. The scheme known as the Chief Minister’s Special Tourism Loan Fund will benefit both entrepreneurs and employees of the sector who are struggling to keep themselves afloat. As per the scheme announced by Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran, 2,500 large scale entrepreneurs in the sector can avail working capital loans from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 25 lakh. Besides that,  2,500 small scale tourism entrepreneurs can avail ... Read more

Leading tourism associations have come forward to congratulate the Kerala state government’s decision to announce a financial package worth Rs 455 crore, which will be used to provide loans to entrepreneurs and employees in the industry. ATTOI President Vinod CS said he would like to congratulate the State Government, Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran, Tourism Secretary Rani George and all the officials of the tourism department for putting together this package. “This is will be highly beneficial for the sector,” he said. “Covid-19 has destroyed the sector. Many had lost their jobs and entrepreneurs didn’t have a clue on how to ... Read more

Kerala Tourism is planning to attract domestic tourists through innovative campaigns on web portals, social media, television channels, radio, music streaming channels and OTT (over-the-top) platforms, once the pandemic eases. Impressions lasting from 1-6 minutes will be featured on 14 web portals as part of the online ad campaign at a cost of ₹1.18 crore, The Hindu has reported. Bloggers will be brought on to project Kerala under the Kerala Blog Express Influence Engagement Activity. The initiative is estimated to cost ₹88.5 lakh. In the ₹2.36-crore Social Media Tactical Campaign, Kerala will be featured on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, ... Read more