'Visit Kerala' An innovative campaign to promote God's Own Country

With the Arabian Sea on its west and Western Ghats on the east side, Kerala enjoys distinctive natural features that have made it one of the best tourist destinations in Asia.

Recently, at an event in New Delhi, Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Tourism Minister of India, launched the 'Visit Kerala' campaign. Kerala, also popular as God&rsquos Own Country, has been recommended by a number of travel magazines as &ldquoone of the ten paradises of the world&rdquo and one of fifty &ldquomust see in a life time destinations&rdquo.

As Kerala is bounded by 44 rivers, tranquil beaches along its 600km coastline and is home to world much-admired hill resorts, 17 exotic wildlife sanctuaries, 5 national parks, 2 tiger reserves, it was decided that Kerala will be endorsed merely on the power of its green belt. Ayurvedic health holidays was also the initiated by Kerala as it was the poineer in encouraging and practicing Ayurveda with thousands of years of historical heritage with 16 Ayurveda colleges, 890 licensed manufacturers and more than 16000 ayurveda medical stores.

During the launch of &lsquoVisit Kerala&rsquo campaign, the state tourism department official also said that they would focus on north-Indian cities, as out of 1 crore 16 lakhs of tourists who visited Kerala last year, more than half belong to north-Indian metros. To promote the cuisine of Kerala across the country, especially the delectable Malabari cuisine, several food festivals are going to be organised in Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Kolkata.

The state is also coming up with many attractive offers related to hotel deals and packages which are nearly finalised by the hotel industry and the tour operators of Kerala. Despite having 3 international airports in Kerala, it was also decided that the state will enhance its air connectivity.  At present, the number of weekly flights from Delhi to Kochi are 76, Delhi to Thiruvananthapuram 28, Mumbai to Kochi 63 and Mumbai to Thiruvananthapuram is 28.