In a bid to woo more tourist footfall from China, Kerala has become the first Indian state to collaborate with the China Ready programme, which has already been conducted in 48 countries. Kerala Tourism has joined hands with Welcome China, a government accredited initiative that works to help travel and tourism engage significantly with China. This is part of the state’s tourism promotion plans.
In this regard, a destination audit from Chinese tourists’ perspective to ascertain the attractiveness of the destination has commenced in Alappuzha, Thekkady, Munnar and Kochi, which will continue till 5th of October. Kerala Tourism is also putting in efforts to attract more Chinese travellers to the state.
Recently, a workshop for travel and tourism trade was held as part of designing a marketing strategy to pull Chinese tourists. It was attended by 40 leading tour operators and hoteliers of the state. Kerala Tourism has reportedly provided ₹Rs.12 lakh for the audit, workshop and for providing inputs for the next one year.
Under this programme, major tourist destinations in the state will be assembled for the Chinese delegation. It may be noted that the tourist footfall across the globe from China touches about 150 million a year. In 2018, about three lakh Chinese tourists had visited the country and this enthusiasm showed by the Chinese market has surprised the stake-holders of the tourism industry.
In the meantime, a top official of ‘Welcome China’ was reported that India is one of the favourite destinations for Chinese tourists.
