Stepping up its global outreach, Kerala Tourism took part in FITUR, the world’s second most important tourism fair in Spain’s capital Madrid. Reinforcing its position as an all-season experiential tourism destination and unlocking new opportunities in Spanish travel market in particular, Kerala’s pavilion themed ‘The Magical Every Day’ drew a steady stream of visitors including business delegates, right from the opening of the five-day fair on January 24.
FITUR had in the past substantially helped the State flaunt its destinations and packages before the world, leading to win-win business deals. There were 18,947 arrivals from Spain, an important market for Kerala, in pre-pandemic 2019. Of late, arrivals have shown a steady uptick recouping from the global disruption wreaked by COVID -19.
The Kerala pavilion, occupying 100 sq. m space, stole the show with a gigantic installation of a pair of bulls seen in Kerala’s temple festivals, called the Kettukala in local parlance. In all, nine trade partners from Kerala presented their tour packages and properties at the fair. Kerala Tourism’s participation in FITUR will be followed by a series of B2B meets in Barcelona, Milan, Paris and London. Significantly, Kerala’s appealing presence in FITUR comes in the wake of the State Tourism department scaling up its global campaign to bolster international tourist footfalls, said a release issued by the Kerala Tourism here on Monday.