Kerala Tourism plans to tap Gujarat in a big way and has been conducting roadshows to attract more travellers from the western state. Gujarat is a prosperous state and its people have desire to visit tourist spots in Kerala,said Nandkumar K P,Tourist Information Officer,Department of Tourism,Government of Kerala. According to him,60 per cent of the domestic tourists visiting Kerala are from Gujarat. "Encouraged by the good response from the state,we have stepped up our efforts to attract more tourists from Gujarat," he said. Nandkumar was here to take part in a tourism partnership meet organised last night. Such meets were held in Surat and Ahmedabad in January and February this year. "This shows how much importance Kerala Government's Tourism Department attaches to Gujarat." "We have planned more such events in Tier 2 cities like Pune,Raipur,Indore,Vishakhapatnam,Bhubaneshwar,Lucknow,Gwalior,Mysore and Coimbatore," Nandkumar said. "We are thinking of a tie-up with Gujarat Tourism Development Corporation for working out packages," he said. The meets include business sessions,screening of films on tourist destinations and cultural programmes. "We are in talks with Tourism Department of Rajasthan Government for taking Rajasthan visiting foreign tourists to Kerala," Nandkumar stated. Last year,6.50 lakh international tourists visited the southern state and this year we are targetting 8 lakh holiday-makers from overseas,he added.
