NEW YORK: A 14-member delegation from Kerala, led by the state Tourism Minister A.P. Anilkumar, kicked off a three-city US road show, aimed at attracting more American tourists to the southern Indian state, here, on Monday.
The delegation will meet more than a 100 US tour operators and other stakeholders in the next three days, Anilkumar told Global India Newswire, on Monday.
This is the first-ever road show of its kind launched by the Kerala government in the United States, according to the minister.
Besides Anilkumar, the delegation consists of tourism secretary Suman Billa and 12 private tour operators. It will hold similar road shows in Chicago on Tuesday and Los Angeles on Thursday.
According to the minister, in 2012, more than 53,000 Americans visited Kerala, termed by the National Geographic Traveler as one of the 50 must-see destinations.
Union Ministry of Tourism data reveals that more than a million Americans arrived in India last year, and tourists from the United States accounted for nearly 16% of all foreigners arrived in India in 2012, by far the most.
The minister hoped that the current campaign will succeed in attracting more U.S. tourists to the state.
Tens of thousands of Americans travel to the neighboring Karnataka, home to the information technology hub Bangalore. The minister said efforts are under way to persuade those business travelers to visit Kerala, too.
More than 20 million foreigners visited India last year, according to the Ministry of Tourism.
Kerala was the eighth largest destination for foreign tourists behind Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Bihar. The southern state, known for its fabulous backwaters, beaches, mountains and paddy fields and coconut orchards, attracted nearly 800,000 foreign visitors last year, accounting for 3.8% of the total visits.
Visitors from the United Kingdom, France and Germany were the leading foreign nationals that visited the state.
(American Bazaar)
Kerala Minister and 14 member delegation is visiting various US cities to promote Kerala Tourism- News. Another waste of tax payers money just like the program (Emerging Kerala or Jim) organized by Kerala Governments.
Kerala government is expecting American tourists as well as Indian American tourists. Right?. First teach our bureaucrats how to behave at Indian consulates, at airports and at customs etc.
Resolve the problems created by the India governments regarding Passport, Passport renunciation, OCI issues. Improve service. Do some justice to visitors. Listen to the problems. Reduce time lag. Prevent “Pravasi Peedanam”. These are the first steps to promote tourism. That will bring more visitors to Kerala and bring more foreign money. Other than that just these kinds of ministerial tours with big team delegation are waste of tax payer’s money. They are good only to the minister and to their visiting team and to some so called pravasi leaders for photo opportunities. In fact we have to show black flags (Karingkodi) to this type of delegation. Let them resolve our primary issues first.
നമുക്ക് ബൈബിൾ കഥയിലേക്ക് പോകാം. ഒരാണും ഒരു പെണ്ണും അതിൽ കൂടുതൽ ഉണ്ടാകാൻ ദൈവം ഇഷ്ടപ്പെട്ടിരുന്നില്ല. അത് കൊണ്ട് ഒരു വിലക്കപെട്ട കനി വിളയുന്ന മരവും ദൈവം നട്ടു. മനുഷ്യൻ അതു പൊട്ടിച്ച് തിന്നു ലോകത്തിൽ പെരുകി. ജലപ്രളയത്താൽ മനുഷര്യരെ കൊല്ലുകയില്ലെന്നു മഴവിൽ കാണിച്ച് കരാർ ചെയ്തത്കൊണ്ട് ഇനി അഗ്നിയാൽ ( ഒരു നൂക്ലിയർ സംഹാരം) മനുഷ്യരെല്ലാം ഇരയാക്കപ്പെടും, പുതിയ ആകാശവും പുതിയ ഭൂമിയും ഉണ്ടാകും. അത് വരെ രക്ഷയില്ല. ഇത് ഒരു മതത്തെ അനുകൂലിച്ച പറയുകയല്ല. ഇത് വരെ കാണുന്ന സംഭവവികാസങ്ങൾ അടിസ്ഥാനമാക്കി പറയുന്നതാണ്. മതത്തിന്റെ ഉദാഹരണം എടുത്തു എന്ന മാത്രം,.