The Tourism department is set to market Kerala as a wedding tourism destination, Tourism Minister P.A. Mohammed Riyas told the Assembly on Monday.
Promotional programmes for this as well as to showcase destinations in the State as safe for solo women travellers are also in the works.
To tap the expected boom in the tourism sector, the department has been organising road shows in metro cities as well as participating in travel marts to popularise destinations within the State.
A special marketing campaign is also being launched to target the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, France, and West Asia, from where the State gets the maximum number of tourists. The department will also continue with the familiarisation tours for celebrities from outside the State, as part of efforts to promote various destinations, especially the lesser known ones.
The possibilities of helicopter tourism by connecting travellers from airports directly to destinations that are not easily accessible are also being explored. The Minister said that the State could expect an influx of tourists with the trend of revenge tourism, of people travelling to make up for all the time they stayed inside during the pandemic-induced lockdowns, catching on.
Mr. Riyas said that discussions had been held with the Local Self Government department to address the issue of waste management in tourism destinations. Tourism clubs in campuses would be made a part of the efforts, with these clubs being made a part of the processes for the upkeep as well as promotion of the destinations near their location.
