<p class="title">Kerala's tourism industry appears to have taken assured steps forward as it tries to recover from the devastating floods in August, if the just-concluded Kerala Travel Mart 2018 is an indication.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The floods had ravaged 12 of the state's 14 districts, severely damaging its tourism infrastructure. In effect, Kerala Tourism was staring at a loss of Rs 1,000 crore.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The sector contributed Rs 33,000 crore in 2017, accounting for 10% of the state's GDP and a little over 23 % of its total employment. Numbers emerging from KTM 2018, held from September 27 to 30 in Kochi, validate Kerala’s preparedness to receive visitors in the October-March tourist season.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 2018 edition of the biennial event, featuring tourism sector stakeholders from across the world, tells a different story — 35,000 business meets involving 1,635 buyers shortlisted from 7,000 applicants (545 of them from 66 foreign countries — the highest in KTM so far), 325 sellers in 400-odd stalls and the highest number of foreign buyers from US and the UK.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kerala Tourism Secretary Rani George called the response "historic", coming after the worst natural calamity in Kerala’s history.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kerala Tourism Director P Bala Kiran said it proved that KTM was not a celebratory event, but a business meet. The event, inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, built confidence among tourists and other industry stakeholders and made a "perceptional change" about post-floods Kerala, an official statement said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Plans were announced to reinvent responsible tourism, update customised packages and spruce up heritage spots.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Charting a new course in cruise tourism, the Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation is set to launch by this month-end an Egypt-themed luxury vessel called Nefertiti.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Chaliyar River Challenge 2018 (a 68-km kayaking championship), the recent installation of a giant sculpture of the bird Jatayu, mentioned in the <span class="italic"><em>Ramayana</em></span>, and the Muziris Project are set to woo tourists, the statement said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Responsible Tourism–related schemes currently provide jobs to 30,000 families, while 7,800 of them are direct beneficiaries.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"A survey will be conducted seeking the possibility of offering job opportunities through tourism for people in the state's flood-hit areas," Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The government has earmarked Rs 700 crore for the tourism sector under the Nava Kerala reconstruction activities and proposes to increase tourism’s share to 20% of the GDP by 2020.</p>
<p class="title">Kerala's tourism industry appears to have taken assured steps forward as it tries to recover from the devastating floods in August, if the just-concluded Kerala Travel Mart 2018 is an indication.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The floods had ravaged 12 of the state's 14 districts, severely damaging its tourism infrastructure. In effect, Kerala Tourism was staring at a loss of Rs 1,000 crore.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The sector contributed Rs 33,000 crore in 2017, accounting for 10% of the state's GDP and a little over 23 % of its total employment. Numbers emerging from KTM 2018, held from September 27 to 30 in Kochi, validate Kerala’s preparedness to receive visitors in the October-March tourist season.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 2018 edition of the biennial event, featuring tourism sector stakeholders from across the world, tells a different story — 35,000 business meets involving 1,635 buyers shortlisted from 7,000 applicants (545 of them from 66 foreign countries — the highest in KTM so far), 325 sellers in 400-odd stalls and the highest number of foreign buyers from US and the UK.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kerala Tourism Secretary Rani George called the response "historic", coming after the worst natural calamity in Kerala’s history.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kerala Tourism Director P Bala Kiran said it proved that KTM was not a celebratory event, but a business meet. The event, inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, built confidence among tourists and other industry stakeholders and made a "perceptional change" about post-floods Kerala, an official statement said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Plans were announced to reinvent responsible tourism, update customised packages and spruce up heritage spots.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Charting a new course in cruise tourism, the Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation is set to launch by this month-end an Egypt-themed luxury vessel called Nefertiti.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Chaliyar River Challenge 2018 (a 68-km kayaking championship), the recent installation of a giant sculpture of the bird Jatayu, mentioned in the <span class="italic"><em>Ramayana</em></span>, and the Muziris Project are set to woo tourists, the statement said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Responsible Tourism–related schemes currently provide jobs to 30,000 families, while 7,800 of them are direct beneficiaries.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"A survey will be conducted seeking the possibility of offering job opportunities through tourism for people in the state's flood-hit areas," Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The government has earmarked Rs 700 crore for the tourism sector under the Nava Kerala reconstruction activities and proposes to increase tourism’s share to 20% of the GDP by 2020.</p>