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Kerala is fast emerging as hot destination for French tourists
Ranvir Nayar
Thanks to sustained and focused marketing, Kerala is fast emerging as a hot destination for French tourists, challenging the domination of the Golden Triangle of Delhi, Jaipur and Agra. "It is very evident from the number of queries we receive here as well as from the rapidly growing number of circuits being offered by the French tour operators which include Kerala," said Manmohan Sadana, the director of the Indian National Tourism Office in Paris. "Kerala is a clear success story here and this is almost entirely due to the promotional blitz launched by the state government. If other state governments in India too take up such promotions, it will go a long way in positioning them as an attractive destination in a niche market,"Mr Sadana said. He said that Kerala has been able to break into the French market only due to its very professional marketing approach.The Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) has literally flooded the French market with promotional brochures and videocassettes about the state's tourism offerings, all in French. The KTDC also regularly updates French tour operators about tourism-related developments in the state. The state's Kerala Tourism Mart, held last month, had been a huge success with a number of French tour operators participating. As part of continuing promotion of the state, the KTDC is organising a presentation for the French market on November 17 here. The presentation will be made by a three-member KTDC delegation led by Kerala's Tourism Secretary, Mr Amitabh Kant. The other members of the team are Mr V Venu, director of tourism and Mr A Jayatilak, KTDC's managing director. A question and answer session and a sampling of Kerala cuisine will follow the one-hour presentation. More than 40 leading French tour operators like Nouvelles Frontieres, Kuoni and Voyageurs are likely to attend the presentation. Before coming to France, the Kerala delegation had held similar promotional exercises in Milan and Florence in Italy. -- (India Abroad News Service) Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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