Kerala woos tourists away from Scandinavia

In a marketing strategy to rev up the dwindling receipts from global tourism, Kerala unfolded a range of products and packages to woo more tourists from the Scandinavian region. Buoyed by the successful road shows in Australia last month, the Kerala tourism department conducted a series of road shows in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland early this week with the support of the state's travel industry. "The response from the trade fraternity in these countries was tremendous and these shows looked promising as the right catalysts for the growth of Kerala tourism," Tourism Secretary T.K. Manoj Kumar who led the delegation from the state said in a statement. The shows were attended by a large number of stakeholders, paving way for new business ties with the Kerala-based entrepreneurs. The industry there showed keen interest in tapping the latest offers from Kerala and pushing more tourists, Kumar added. The road shows -- a virtual tapestry of 'god's own country' through presentations, documentaries, trade interactions and visual display -- were held at Oslo (Norway) Nov 14, Copenhagen (Denmark) Nov 15, Helsinki (Finland) Nov 16 and at Stockholm (Sweden) Nov 17. It was the second time that Kerala Tourism showcased the array of the state's tourism products in these countries, taking a cue from the increased arrivals from this region in the past years. Indian Ambassador to Denmark, Ashok Kumar Attri, was the chief guest at the show at Copenhagen while Indian Ambassador to Finland, Aladiyan Manickam, was the chief guest at Helsinki. Leading tourism honchos from the state which took part in the show included CGH Earth Experience Hotels, Isola Di Cocco, Kalypso Adventures, Poovar Island Resort, The Travancore Heritage. In 2010, as many as 10,525 tourists arrived from Sweden (1.60 percent of the total tourist arrivals), Denmark 8,825 tourists (1.34 per cent), Finland 3,146 tourists (0.48 per cent), and Norway 2,583 tourists (0.39 per cent).