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Kerala hosts roadshows in Scandinavia to woo tourists
In a marketing strategy to shore up the dwindling receipts from global tourism, Kerala Tourism last week unfolded a range of products and packages to woo tourists from the Scandinavian region that had shown signs of relative economic comfort when other European zones reeled under crisis.
Inspired by the successful marketing efforts in Australia last month, the Kerala Tourism Department conducted a series of roadshows in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland last week with the support of the travel industry from Kerala.
“The response from the trade fraternity in these countries was tremendous and the shows looked promising as the right catalysts for the growth of Kerala tourism in the days to come,” said Tourism Secretary TK Manoj Kumar, who led the delegation along with Tourism Planning Officer UV Jose, in a release.
Large numbers of stakeholders attended the shows in all the places, paving way for new business ties with the Kerala-based entrepreneurs who took part in the shows, the Tourism Department claimed. The industry in Scandinavia showed keen interest in tapping the latest offers from Kerala and pushing more tourists, Manoj Kumar said.
The roadshows, described as a virtual tapestry of God’s Own Country through presentations, documentaries, trade interactions and visual display, were held at Oslo, Norway on November 14, Copenhagen, Denmark on 15, Helsinki, Finland on 16 and at Stockholm, Sweden on November 17, he said.
It was the second time that Kerala Tourism had showcased an array of the State’s tourism products in these countries. Indian Ambassador to Denmark Ashok Kumar Attri was the chief guest at the show in Copenhagen while Indian envoy to Finland Aladiyan Manickam was the chief guest at Helsinki.
“Go Kerala” contests were held in each place in partnership with Jet Airways, Manoj Kumar said. A fully-paid Kerala holiday (including flight and hospitality) was offered to two winners at each place. Alongside, Kerala trade offered an Ayurveda package as consolation prizes to the winners in Finland and Sweden.
As many as 10,525 tourists arrived from Sweden (1.60 per cent of the total tourist arrivals in the State), 8,825 from Denmark (1.34 per cent), 3,146 tourists from Finland (0.48 per cent) and 2,583 tourists arrived in Kerala from Norway (0.39 per cent) in 2010, the release said. The roadshows in Australia in October also were huge hits, it claimed
Fear among Europeans about the possibility of yet another recession was feared to impact badly on the plans of the Kerala Tourism Department which had set a revenue target higher by 30 per cent for 2011 than what the State had earned in 2010. Kerala had earned Rs 17,348 crore last year from tourism whereas this was Rs 13,231 crore in 2009.
