"Kerala can expect quite a stampede from South Africa very soon, now that we get to know what the destination offers," said Paula Job, a tour operator from South Africa.
"The state offers astounding variety of destinations from hill stations to beaches and adventure sports to tranquil retreats.It's an all-in-one package which is not as popular as it deserves to be in our part of the world," said Job.
Like Job, many of the new entrants pointed to the lack of proper marketing of Kerala tourism in their respective countries.
"The exposure that KTM provides for destination-oriented tourism is brilliant. The mart provides a stage for even smallscale enterprises and an assortment of choices for all kinds of buyers, which is wonderful.However, despite being the neighbouring country , China is acquainted only with traditions like Ayurveda and Yoga. Natural beauty of the state should be cornerstone of tourism marketing here," said Julie Hu from China. Delegates from Japan and South Korea said Kerala Tourism can effectively tap East Asian countries. "This is my fifth visit to India. But I've explored only the northern triangle of the country, as is the case with my colleagues. Given the potential of the state, proper marketing is bound to yield remarkable results," said Eunji Kim, delegate from South Korea. Responsible tourism, the focus of KTM 2016, is a driving factor for many of the new entrants, who signed up for the event. "Little was known to us about Kerala, but such a novel effort to promote sustainable and responsible tourism grabbed eyeballs and that is what has brought us here for this expo," said Tomasz Liptak, a Polish tour agent. The responsible tourism campaign drew a significant number of homestay and farm stay sellers as well, catering to the growing demand for eco and village tourism amongst international buyers at the event.Source: KTM newbies feel Kerala is wow-package
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