Kerala to promote souvenirs in a big way

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - A shop selling exquisite souvenirs of Kerala was launched here Thursday by state Tourism Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan who said similar outlets would be opened at important tourist spots.

On display at the shop were popular ‘aranmula kanadi’ (metal mirror), the hookah (waterpipe), products made from coir, coconut husk, shells, handicrafts products and also the traditional Kerala sarees, to name a few.

“We have also requested all hotels to open a similar shoppe because the demand for this is going to be huge. A panel of experts has been identified to select the various products that need to be added to the list of souvenirs,” said Balakrishnan.

“The tourism department would act as an intermediary between producers and sellers by supplying these products,” he said.

At the moment, 50 products have been identified for sale and this list is going to swell to 125, the minister said.

“There is a huge market for souvenirs and the approximate amount that the tourists spend for shopping is estimated to be around 10 percent of the state’s total earnings every year,” Tourism Director M. Sivasankar told IANS.

“Hitherto, the souvenir products were few and with this arrangement in a matter of two years it is going to be a major earner for the traditional craftsmen,” he said.

According to the tourism department, in the 2009 calendar year 5.57 lakh foreign tourists and 79.13 lakh domestic tourists visited the state. Kerala earned a total income of Rs.13,231 crore from tourism.

“The figures for the first half of the present calendar year shows that there has been an increase in tourist arrival - both domestic and foreign - as compared to the same period last year,” said Balakrishnan.

“During this period, foreign tourist arrival grew by 13.90 percent to touch 3.35 lakh tourists and domestic tourist arrival grew by 5.59 percent to reach 41 lakh, he said.

With the new tourist season all set to commence in a month, this time there would be chartered flights coming from Russia and Ukraine.

“The next edition of the Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) is to begin Sep 23 at Kochi and this time the biggest contingent of foreign and domestic tourism buyers would be arriving to explore Kerala Tourism,” added Sivasankar.

KTM is an annual event held to promote Kerala tourism and this time more than 1,500 buyers from within the country and outside have already registered for it.

“We are expecting the tourism ministers from Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh to arrive for the event and we will be entering into agreements to work together for joint promotion of tourism products,” the minister said.

“An agreement with the Rajasthan government has already been inked to this effect,” Balakrishnan said.