If rigorous marketing is the solution for accelerating the slowdown-hit tourism industry, then how can God’s own country be an exception to the rule? In a bid to promote domestic tourism, the Kerala Tourism Department has undertaken road shows in all major north Indian cities.

Scheduled to begin on March 2, the road shows in 15 cities including Pune, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Nagpur will showcase Kerala culture and promote the state as a tourism destination to local businessmen and customers.

Ambujakshan Pillai, marketing officer, Kerala tourism, said, “We recently conducted road shows in London on February 3 and Milan on February 4. Over 60 sponsors and interested buyers attended the presentation in London. However, in the wake of the global slowdown, where the number of foreign tourists is dipping, we need to concentrate more on domestic tourism, the market of which for us is primarily in north Indian cities. The road shows in India are an extension of the programme that we have been conducting in foreign cities, the only addition being the physical presentation of dance forms and the cultural aspects of Kerala.”

The road shows involving a team of 40 participants, will be visiting each of the cities in March and April. The troupe, other than business presentations and media meets during their two-day visit to every city, will be presenting local art forms such as — Mohiniattam, Kathakali, Kalripayattu, Thiruvathira, plays and a specially choreographed folk dance — Theyyam at the road shows. A 20-minute film on Kerala will also be screened at every destination.

Unveiling the statistics, the assistant manager of a department, who requested anonymity, said, “Our budget for each of the cities is in the range of Rs 8 to 10 lakh, which means that the entire promotional drive would cost us approximately Rs 1.5 crore. We are planning to tap customers and businesses form these cities and are expecting at least 40-45 tie-ups from every city.”