Trivandrum, Kerala -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/30/2009 -- A 12 member delegation from Kerala is currently in Europe to promote the State at the International French Tourism Mart, IFTM TopResa in Paris. TopResa is the global event for the French tourism market and it is the first time that Kerala Tourism and its partners are participating at the 4 day trade fair which concludes today.

The Kerala delegation led by Dr Venu V Secretary, Kerala Tourism is showcasing Kerala products and experiences within the Kerala Stand in the Indian pavilion. Over 47 buyers who have expressed interest in Kerala have met Dr Venu and the Kerala trade over the last 4 days to discuss further about including Kerala in their product mix. They include Fram, Escape Mandarin and La route de Indes.

Dr Venu also met several journalists from the trade and general media including Easy Voyage, La Voix Du Nord and Routard

Kerala Tourism's decision to participate at Top Resa was to further penetrate the French market after conducting roadshows there in the last 4 years. France is the number 2 source market for Kerala. 52,239 French nationals visited Kerala in 2008 which is a 9% growth over the previous year

Prior to coming to Paris the Kerala delegation took in a pre TopResa roadshow in Brussels, where they met 109 buyers.

This is first time that Kerala tourism had conducted a roadshow in Belgium which is the 16th largest source market for the State.

Post Paris, the Kerala delegation will be conducting its first roadshow in Rome, Italy on 28 Sept. Italy is the 6th largest market for foreign arrivals to Kerala.

The decision to conduct roadshows in new cities and to combine regional roadshows with trade fairs was made following a review between Kerala tourism trade and Kerala Tourism. Other international roadshows will be held in Australia in October and Scandinavia in November later this year.

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Kerala Tourism was awarded a PATA Gold at the PATA Travel Mart 2009 which concluded yesterday in Hangzhou, China (PRC).

Trivandrum, Kerala -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/29/2009 -- Kerala Tourism was awarded a PATA Gold at the PATA Travel Mart 2009 which concluded yesterday in Hangzhou, China (PRC).

The Gold Award for Marketing - Secondary Government Destination category, was for Kerala's entry 'Dream Season in God's Own Country,' which was judged 'best in class' from amongst 236 entries worldwide.

Conceptualised and executed by Stark Communications, The Dream Season campaign objective was to convert the traditional off season in Kerala into a season of opportunity for domestic travelers. It positioned the State as an affordable and inviting destination, making God's Own Country an all-season's destination.

At the Awards ceremony which took place in Hangzhou yesterday afternoon, the judges commented that it was "Not easy to find a solution to counter seasonality. The concept of a dream season is brilliant. The dream season campaign is terrific".

The judging panel further commented "Kerala Within Your Reach key message carried through the campaign appearing in print, TV, radio, internet and roadshows in major cities and the very good marketing partnerships and collaboration, made the access issue very appealing".

Director of Kerala Tourism, Mr M Sivasankar received the PATA Gold award on behalf of the State.

Also in Hangzhou for the TraveL Mart were representatives from CGH Earth, Travancore Heritage, Thomas Holidays and Somatheeram Ayurvedic Beach Resort, who are part of the Kerala Tourism pavilion. PATA Travel Mart is Asia Pacific's most important and influential travel and tourism industry networking and contracting event. More than 1,000 delegates and media attended this year's PATA Travel Mart (including 591 Sellers from 38 destinations and 305 Buyers from 51 source markets) which closed yesterday evening.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm