Bid to attract tourists from Scandinavian region

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:  Kerala Tourism has unfolded a range of products and packages to woo more tourists from the Scandinavian region which has managed to fend off the economic crisis in Europe. Following the successful road shows in Australia last month to kick off this new drive to tap the emerging markets, the Kerala Tourism Department conducted a series of road shows in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland this week with the support of the travel industry from Kerala.“The response from the trade fraternity in these countries was tremendous and these shows looked promising as the right catalysts for the growth of Kerala tourism in the days to come,’’ said Tourism Secretary T K Manoj Kumar,  who is leading the delegation along with Tourism Planning Officer U V Jose. The shows were attended by a large number of stakeholders in all the places, paving way for new business ties with the Kerala-based entrepreneurs who took part in the shows. The industry there showed keen interest in tapping the latest offers from Kerala and pushing more tourists, he added.The road shows, a virtual tapestry of Kerala through presentations, documentaries, trade interactions and visual display, were held at Oslo (Norway) on November 14, at Copenhagen (Denmark) on November 15, Helsinki (Finland) on November 16 and at Stockholm (Sweden) on November 17. Indian Ambassador to Denmark, Ashok Kumar Attri, was the chief guest at the show at Copenhagen while Indian Ambassador to Finland, Aladiyan Manickam, was the chief guest at Helsinki. Head of Chancery Oscar Kerketta attended the show and delivered the keynote address at Stockholm.  ‘Go Kerala’ contests were also held in each place in partnership with Jet Airways. A fully-paid Kerala holiday (including flight & hospitality) was offered to two winners at each place.Kerala trade offered an Ayurveda package as consolation prizes to the winners in Finland and Sweden.In 2010, as many as 10,525 tourists arrived from Sweden (1.60 per cent of the total tourist arrivals in the state), Denmark 8,825 tourists (1.34 per cent), Finland 3,146 tourists (.48 per cent), and Norway 2,583 tourists (.39 per cent).